A Comparison of Telemedicine Teaching to In-Person Teaching for the Acquisition of an Ultrasound Skill - A Pilot Project
Anne-Marie Brisson2, Peter Steinmetz1,3*, Sharon Oleskevich3, John Lewis1, and Andrew Reid1
1Department of Family Medicine, 捆绑SM社区, Canada
2Undergraduate medical education, Faculty of Medicine, 捆绑SM社区, Canada
3St. Mary鈥檚 Research Centre, St. Mary鈥檚 Hospital Centre-捆绑SM社区, Montreal, Canada
Telemedicine is widely used for medical education but few studies directly investigate how telemedicine teaching compares to conventional in-person teaching. Here we determine whether telemedicine teaching is as effective as in-person teaching for the acquisition of an ultrasound skill important in trauma care. Nurses with no prior ultrasound experience (n=10) received study material and a teaching session on how to locate and image the hepatorenal space (Morison鈥檚 pouch). One group of nurses was taught in-person (In-person Group) and the other group was taught via telemedicine (Telemedicine Group). Telemedicine allowed two-way audio and visual communication between the instructor and the nurses. A comparison of the teaching techniques showed that telemedicine teaching was equivalent to in-person teaching for the acquisition of practical and theoretical skills required to locate Morison鈥檚 pouch. The average time required to locate Morison鈥檚 pouch after teaching was also similar between both groups. The results demonstrate that telemedicine teaching is as effective as in-person teaching for the acquisition of bedside ultrasound skills necessary to identify Morison鈥檚 pouch. Remote teaching of these bedside ultrasound skills may help in the diagnosis of intra-abdominal bleeding in rural health care centers.
