Ultrasound in teaching and ultrasound as a method
Ultrasound is widely used, so it may seem odd that it was not commonly taught previously. This is due to the fact that teaching requires hands-on practice. You cannot learn ultrasound simply from lectures, you must try it yourself under guidance in order to understand how to apply it. The fact that it is so demanding with regards to one-on-one teaching has been, and continues to be, an obstacle in providing quality teaching. Similar to learning any imaging modality, having a basic understanding of anatomy is a prerequisite. Therefore, before you begin with the learning program, you must be well-versed in anatomy. This knowledge is crucial for both understanding the images and for envisioning a 3D image of the area you are examining. You will discover that the image will change completely with even a slight movement of the ultrasound probe.The next step in your education is this course. This site contains videos and information you should study before beginning hands-on practice. The more you remember and understand of this content, the more you will gain from the practical section. It might be useful to have the videos of the procedure available, for example on a phone, while you are using the ultrasound equipment. Later, you can use these videos as a repetition of the practical training and you can find answers to questions that may come up along the way.
This ultrasound course will be based largely on practicing normal "ultrasound anatomy" on your fellow medical students. The goal of the course is to gain an understanding of how ultrasound works and be able to recognize normal structures. Together with the different courses, you will also be presented with patients having pathologies where an ultrasound examination is commonly used. However, it will not be possible to teach you how to diagnose these patients as it requires too many hours of training.
Ultrasound can be used as a sort of summary of the body's organs. We perform ultrasounds on children's brains before the fontanelles fuses. In the throat, we can look at salivary glands, blood vessels, lymph nodes, and the thyroid gland. Ultrasounds of the heart are a natural part of a heart examination. In the emergency room, ultrasound is used for simple procedures for injuries to the thorax and abdomen. We can see all the structures in the shoulder and examine the rotator cuff well. We can look at the blood vessels in both the upper and lower limbs. We can look at the small joints in the hands and feet, and tendons in bigger joints. Abdominal ultrasound is used in all branches of radiology, from searching for gallbladder stones to cancer in different organs. You will also see an extensive use of ultrasound to guide biopsy needles, drain abscesses, pleural fluid, or other fluid collections. Within obstetrics, ultrasound is used in foster diagnostics, and within gynecology it is used with an endovaginal probe. "Endo" probes are also used in many other places, together with a scope in the esophagus and ventricles, in the rectum, and with an angiocatheter in blood vessels or in the gallbladder duct. You can now see that you have a lot to learn, but ultrasound is relatively accessible, so for those who wish to learn more, it can become an exciting world.
Professor John Terje Geitung