Effectiveness of limited airway ultrasound education for medical students: a pilot study

Objective The point-of-care ultrasound of the airway (POCUS-A) is a useful examination method but there are currently no educational programs for medical students regarding it. We designed a POCUS-A training curriculum for medical students to improve three cognitive and psychomotor learning domains: knowledge of POCUS-A, image acquisition, and image interpretation. Methods Two hours of training were provided to 52 medical students in their emergency medicine (EM) rotation. Students were evaluated for cognitive and psychomotor skills before and immediately after the training. The validity measures were established with the help of six specialists and eight EM residents. A survey was administered following the curriculum. Results Cognitive skill significantly improved after the training (38.7 +/- 12.4 vs. 91.2 +/- 7.7) and there was no significant difference between medical students and EM residents in posttest scores (91.2 +/- 7.7 vs. 90.8 +/- 4.6). The success rate of overall POCUS-A performance was 95.8%. The students were confident to perform POCUS-A on an actual patient and strongly agreed to incorporate POCUS-A training in their medical school curriculum. Conclusion Cognitive and psychomotor skills of POCUS-A among medical students can be improved via a limited curriculum on EM rotation.