Incorporating ultrasound simulators as part of the medical school curriculum improves students' point-of-care skills and knowledge, researchers reported in a study published online September 12 in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.
Dr. Cathie-Kim Le of McGill University in Montreal and colleagues evaluated the use of ultrasound simulators to improve the skills of 19 fourth-year medical students who had previous training in point-of-care ultrasound for assessing shock in patients. The students were randomly assigned to one of two groups: One group of 10 was given an ultrasound training curriculum and access to a simulator for two self-directed practice ultrasound sessions over four weeks. The second group of nine students followed the same curriculum but did not have access to the simulator ultrasound training.
Le and colleagues assessed the students' ultrasound image acquisition skills before and after the four-week study period. They also evaluated their understanding of pathological ultrasound findings via a questionnaire in response to two videos of ultrasound scans.
After the four-week study time frame, students in the group with the simulator performed better than those in the control group, both on visual examination (80.1% versus 58.9%) and on practice examination (77.7% versus 57%).
"The use of ultrasound simulators may be a useful tool to help previously trained medical students retain and improve point-of-care ultrasound skills and knowledge," the researchers concluded.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
