Purpose or Case Report: It is essential that budding pediatric radiologists have well-honed ultrasound (US) skills in order to provide correct image interpretation and excellent patient care. The lack of hands-on US experience is a critical gap in current radiology training. We sought to create an interactive, portable tool to remedy this issue.
Methods & Materials: A previously published needs assessment survey revealed a dearth of US hands-on skills amongst pediatric radiology fellows, where fewer than 45% had access to hands-on tutorials with sonographers, and only 23% had scanning responsibilities while on call. Most trainees reported their scanning skills has never been formally evaluated. To fill the learning gap, an electronic application (app) was designed with a user interface (UI) that optimized content delivery, through mobile or stationary devices using the principles of “just-in-time” (JIT) learning. A list of the requisite knowledge and skills for the top 10 emergency pediatric US scans was developed. All key resources and content were collected and assembled in the UI.
Results: The top ten emergency studies include-renal, RUQ, pylorus, intussusception, appendix, pelvis, hip, scrotum, spine, brain. A checklist-based UI was created in our LMS (Absorb, Calgary, Canada) including: protocols, image planes, images of normal and pathology, case log, links to previously created video-based micro-tutorials, “tips” for scan modification, evaluation by instructors, and transcripts. Through responsive design the app conforms to all mobile devices and desktop configuration and is operating system agnostic.
Conclusions: Our interactive mobile POC/JIT app is relatively simple to construct, with an appealing and easy-to-use interface and has potential to fill a gap in US skills during radiology training.