The Flipped Classroom: Addressing the Ultrasound Curriculum Gap in Undergraduate Medical Education

Purpose: Point-of-care ultrasonography has been shown to improve patient outcomes in a wide array of medical specialties. In response, many medical schools have added ultrasonography into their standard curriculum, while others note the additional time and cost of these courses are barriers to their implementation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a new medical school ultrasound curriculum using the flipped classroom model with the primary aim to assess students’ adoption of the flipped classroom model and their perception of the educational benefit of this ultrasound curriculum design. Method: One hundred seventy-nine first year medical students were given access to online ultrasound resources to review prior to five, 1-h, hands-on scanning sessions. After the course concluded, student perception of the flipped classroom design was obtained. Results: On average, 84% of students reviewed the material prior to each session. Student satisfaction with this curriculum design was positive, with the most favorable response occurring when replying to, “This activity was preferable to the traditional lecture format.” Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the flipped classroom model is an effective and preferable way to expand undergraduate medical education to include ultrasonography without adding to an already full lecture burden. © 2018, International Association of Medical Science Educators.