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The James H. Cummings Foundation has funded a second year of SonoSim simulation technology for Trocaire College with a recent grant of $26,340. The SonoSim software simulates a broad range of life-like clinical ultrasound scenarios with both normal and abnormal pathologies for students in the college’s Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) and Echocardiography (Echo) certificate programs. We are indebted to the Cummings Foundation for its support for year two of our SonoSim technology, which provides new and continuing DMS and ECHO students an unparalleled opportunity to develop real-world ultrasonography clinical skills,” said Trocaire President Bassam M. Deeb, This technology proved invaluable this spring amidst the new COVID-19 reality as students were able to complete their clinical requirements using SonoSim, allowing Trocaire to continue meeting Western New York’s critical need for skilled healthcare professionals.

Throughout the year, we’ll be launching a series of ultrasound education products, including new online ultrasound courses, unique scanning cases, analytics with artificial intelligence (AI), and more! Practice scanning real-patient cases with the next generation of the SonoSimulator, which will take on the look-and-feel of a real ultrasound machine. New Modules and scanning cases include: For current members, you’ll soon find an easier Main Menu for navigation, how-to videos, and reference materials within the SonoSimulator. To create a pathway for the standardized assessment of large numbers of ultrasound learners and deliver a dramatically more efficient method for image evaluation, AI-Automated Assessment serves as a first review of ultrasound images saved by learners.

A blended learning approach has the collateral benefit of helping medical schools satisfy the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) self-directed learning mandates while supporting remote instruction and distance learning (Sakai et al.). These barriers include a paucity of qualified ultrasound instructors, access to patients with pathologic conditions, practice environments, financial resources to support training and assessment, and an already densely-packed undergraduate medical education curricula (Bahner et al., Dinh et al., Ma et al.). Many medical schools have applied a peer-to-peer (student-to-student) approach to ultrasound training to overcome the shortage of qualified instructors and to reduce curricular expenses (Tarique et al.). A blended learning, or “flipped classroom” approach to ultrasound education and training, is the idea that learning will take place in a traditional classroom, lab, or face-to-face setting, but is also coupled with independent study and online learning on the student’s own time.

Preliminary studies indicate that bedside ultrasound plays a helpful role in early detection and monitoring of lung involvement in COVID-19 patients. The SonoSim COVID-19 Resource Page provides peer-reviewed articles, case studies, and a mapping of SonoSim Modules that contain relevant COVID-19 ultrasound information.