This e-learning program is an introduction to cardiac ultrasound. It is an advantage to go through this course before the practical cardiac ultrasound course in Module 3. Experiences from the first courses with students have shown that the majority of students can manage basic use of ultrasound, but the expression "a minute to learn - a lifetime to master" applies. Those of us who use ultrasound every day, can see that there is constantly more to learn. In addition, technological improvements make images that were challenging to depict 10 years ago now easy to depict. We can only look forward to what ultrasound will give us in the future.
This e-learning program consists of 10 videos of 1-2 minutes. The videos build on each other, and the first time you go through the files, you should watch them chronologically. All the videos are made up of 3 parts. Up to the left you can see how the patient should be positioned and how the probe is positioned. Down to the left is the anatomic picture of the structure displayed in the ultrasound image to the right. In this way, the anatomic structure you recall from lecture can be recognized in the ultrasound image. There is also a diagram that shows how the ultrasound plane slices through the heart in the different projections.
The course is made to teach you to depict the most important parts of the heart. This gives a foundation to continue studying pathologic conditions.
Good luck!
Helge Skulstad, Chief, Cardiac ultrasound laboratory, Rikshospitalet