Comparing Blended Learning with Faculty-Led Ultrasound Training: Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial (The SIGNATURE Trial).

Background: Ultrasound is increasingly used in clinical practice as a bedside tool. As medical graduates first encounter the technique in early residency, ultrasound training needs to be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum. In Switzerland, abdominal ultrasound skills have been taught by a faculty-led, 21-hour course. However, this course does not have sufficient capacity to meet the increasing demand, and there have been doubts about its effectiveness as a teaching method. We therefore developed a 21-hour blended-learning course, comprising five hours of e-learning and 16 hours of near-peer tutoring. This study investigates whether this new teaching format is as good as, or superior to, the faculty-led method. Methods: The SIGNATURE study is an investigator-initiated, two-arm, randomised controlled trial, enrolling 152 medical students at the Universities of Bern, Fribourg and Zurich. Stratified by study site, students are 1:1 randomised to either the blended-learning course or the faculty-led 2.5-day ultrasound course. Students undergo a six-station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and complete an online questionnaire immediately after the course and 6 months later. Discussion: If demonstrated to be effective, the blended-learning course would allow an increase in the number of undergraduate medical students that can acquire ultrasound skills before starting their residencies.