A Pilot Study Exposing Novice Medical and Nursing Students to Point-of-Care Sonography Skills

Point-of-care sonography is a valuable tool used in medical practice. A free health clinic was the venue for the authors’ approach to hands-on training for medical and nursing students. Students were surveyed before and after the event regarding their experience and their ability to successfully perform six targeted sonographic skills. The primary outcome was the change presurvey to postsurvey in the students’ assessment of their ability to perform scans on patients and identify the anatomic structures in the six skill areas. An experienced sonographer monitored each scan and confirmed skill application. One hundred nineteen sonograms were performed. Most students (23/29) did not report competence in any of the six assessed skills prior to the study. On average, students developed competence in three of six skill areas. Before the study, 3 of 29 students (10%) reported being able to perform scans on patients and identify the major anatomic structures. After the study, 20 of 28 students (71%) reported that...