Table 3 Themes identified in qualitative analysis of student comments
From: Integrating a self-directed ultrasound curriculum for the internal medicine clerkship
No. of comments (%) | Representative quotation | |
|---|---|---|
Positives of Curriculum | 45 | |
Medical decision-making and patient care | 18 (40%) | “Having the US literally helped save someone’s life with a pericardial effusion who was moving toward tamponade.” |
Opportunities for independent practice were valuable | 8 (18%) | “Opportunities to practice with patients” |
General ultrasound skill | 7 (16%) | “Improved my ultrasound skills” |
Understanding of anatomy and pathophysiology | 5 (11%) | “We ultrasounded almost every patient and the pathophysiology I was supposed to be seeing made so much sense” |
Student value on the medical team | 4 (9%) | “It was an excellent way for me to shine during patient presentations, even table rounds when I was able to show the clips” |
Assignments, online modules, and asynchronous feedback were valuable | 3 (7%) | “The feedback I got from Dr. Cotton about my image submissions was EXTREMELY helpful” |
Barriers to Learning | 47 | |
Equipment access and functionality | 10 (21%) | |
Gel Availability | 5 (11%) | “Wasn’t sure where to get ultrasound gel at first” |
Probe Availability | 3 (6%) | “We had to share probes which made it hard” |
Ipad/App Functionality | 1 (2%) | “Trouble with iPads and butterfly app” |
Image Quality | 1 (2%) | “The images I get on the nice ultrasound machines are nothing like the ones I get using the Butterfly” |
Insufficient instruction and feedback | 10 (27%) | “ I appreciate the effort that has been put into teaching us about ultrasounds, but it’s still just not nearly enough for me to be able to use them in a way that is useful to patient care” |
Time | 7 (19%) | “Finding time during the day to use it” |
Faculty ultrasound knowledge and enthusiasm | 6 (16%) | “Some attendings were excited about it, others didn’t really care that it was available” |
Fear of harming or burdening patients | 4 (11%) | “I found it difficult to explain to patients that I was going to ultrasound them exclusively for my own learning” |