Undergraduate Student Perceptions of the Use of Ultrasonography in the Study of "Living Anatomy''

Abstract

Ultrasonography is a noninvasive imaging modality, and modern ultrasound machines are portable, inexpensive (relative to other imaging modalities), and user friendly. The aim of this study was to explore student perceptions of the use of ultrasound to teach "living anatomy". A module utilizing transthoracic echocardiography was developed and presented to undergraduate medical, science, and dental students at a time they were learning cardiac anatomy as part of their curriculum. Relevant cardiac anatomy was explored on a student volunteer and images were projected in real-time to all students via an AV projection system. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire about the learning exper..