School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
The Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
Clin Anat. 2023 Jul;36(5):742-753. doi: 10.1002/ca.24014. Epub 2023 Apr 20.
Anatomy is the foundation of many physiology and healthcare-related degrees. With limited access to cadavers in many universities, it is essential to investigate techniques that could be utilized to support and enhance the teaching of anatomy. Ultrasound is used clinically to aid the diagnosis of a wide range of conditions by visualizing the anatomy of the patient. While research has investigated the advantages of ultrasound in medical education, the potential benefits of ultrasound in undergraduate bioscience degrees remain to be investigated. The aim of this study was to identify if a portable ultrasound probe that wirelessly attaches to a smartphone or tablet was perceived by students as beneficial for their understanding and learning of anatomy, and to identify if there were any barriers for students partaking in ultrasound sessions. Following five ultrasound-teaching sessions, 107 undergraduate students completed a 5-point likert questionnaire on their perception of the integration of portable ultrasound machines in anatomy education. The data indicated that 93% of students perceived that the ultrasound teaching sessions improved their anatomical understanding, 94% perceived that ultrasound increased their ability to understand the clinical relevance of learning anatomy, 97% enjoyed the sessions, and 95% of students believed that ultrasound should be integrated into anatomy teaching. In this study, we also found several barriers for students taking part in ultrasound sessions, including religious beliefs, and lacking adequate background knowledge. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate, for the first time, that students perceive portable ultrasound to enhance their anatomy studies, demonstrating the potential benefit the integration of ultrasound into the anatomy curriculum may serve within undergraduate bioscience courses.
解剖学是许多生理学和医疗保健相关学位的基础。由于许多大学对尸体的获取有限，因此必须研究可以支持和增强解剖学教学的技术。超声临床上用于通过可视化患者的解剖结构来辅助诊断广泛的疾病。虽然研究已经调查了超声在医学教育中的优势，但超声在本科生物科学学位中的潜在益处仍有待调查。本研究的目的是确定是否可以将无线连接到智能手机或平板电脑的便携式超声探头被学生认为对他们理解和学习解剖学有益，并确定学生是否有任何参加超声课程的障碍。在进行了五次超声教学课程后，107 名本科学生完成了一份 5 分制的调查问卷，内容是关于他们对便携式超声机在解剖学教育中整合的看法。数据表明，93%的学生认为超声教学课程提高了他们的解剖学理解能力，94%的学生认为超声提高了他们理解学习解剖学的临床相关性的能力，97%的学生喜欢这些课程，95%的学生认为应该将超声纳入解剖学教学。在这项研究中，我们还发现了学生参加超声课程的一些障碍，包括宗教信仰和缺乏足够的背景知识。总之，这些发现首次表明，学生认为便携式超声可以增强他们的解剖学研究，这表明将超声纳入解剖学课程可能会为本科生物科学课程带来潜在的益处。
