Ultrafest Maribor

Name of the activity: Ultrafest Maribor

Country/NMO: Slovenia (SloMSIC)

Program: Teaching Medical Skills

Contact information: [email protected] 0038640437828

Type of the activity: Capacity Building (Training or Workshop). Teaching and develop knowledge, skills and techniques in a particular field. While training can have any form, workshops are more formal and also include exchange of information between participants.

General description:

Ultrafest is a one-day marathon of ultrasound skills that focuses on granting the students an opportunity to recognize the value and application of ultrasound. Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS), can facilitate the choice of further diagnostics, help to find answers to some key issues and exclude or confirm possible diagnoses. The work and education of students in this field give our faculty a competitive advantage both at home and abroad.

From the implementation of the first Ultrafest, our project has greatly expanded the content we offer to students. In addition to the implementation of the ultrasonic workshops, we perform anatomical ultrasonic workshops at the anatomy course, conduct workshops in cooperation with clinical tutors at the optional propaedeutics course and provide logistical assistance at the physiology course, which is performed by assistant Gregor Prosen. The ultimate goal of the project is the integration of POCUS into the curriculum.

Focus area:

Diagnostic measures

Problem statement:

Ultrafest is a well-known student’s project at our faculty. We try to raise awareness amongst the medical population and students of the advantages of ultrasound and inspire them for learning POCUS skills, while also offering students the material and opportunities to acquire this knowledge.

Target groups:

Medical students, Healthcare Students, Doctors

Beneficiaries:

General population, Medical students, Healthcare Students, Other Students, Doctors, Other health professionals, Children, Youth, Women, Migrants, Refugees, People with disabilities, Elderly people, Homeless people, LGBTQIA+ community, Incarcerated individuals

Objectives and indicators of success:

To improve the knowledge of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) amongst the students of Medical University. We strive to do this by continuing the workshops, improving them and adding new content. The progress will be monitored on the basis of the entry and exit tests. The results will serve us to try to implement ultrasonography in the regular subjects at our faculty.

To improve access to knowledge and content. We are preparing a website where we will collect all the materials and edit them. This will be done to enable access to ultrasound contents for all students both at home and abroad.

Promoting and presenting the project to the Slovenian and international public. We will try to raise awareness amongst the medical population and students of the advantages of ultrasound and inspire them for learning POCUS skills, while also offering students the material and opportunities to acquire this knowledge.

Methodology:

Courses for medical students: The one-day marathon is divided into a theoretical and practical part. After participants complete the entry test, the theoretical part is carried out by mentors. For the practical part students are divided into small groups, depending on the year they are in. After a lunch break workshops continue in the same manner. The workshop concludes with an exit test to evaluate the acquired knowledge and the performance of the instructors.

Internal courses: We have advanced courses for project members and specific ones for new members where they gain the knowledge they need to take part in educating the participants.

Website: One of our priorities is also setting up a website which can be used by everyone who has an interest in learning the use of ultrasound and it’s use in medicine.

Evaluation: The monitoring of progress through entry and exit tests is of great importance as it provides the projects with arguments for including the skill in education program

Plans for evaluation:

Evaluation of the progress is done with the help of entry and exit tests. At workshops conducted one week before the one-day workshop marathon, we provide students with materials to optimally utilize the time available at the main workshop, enabling us to focus on the practical skill rather than theory behind it. The results are compared, thus allowing us to measure how much knowledge, if any, has been gained during the workshop. The results are also compared intergenerationally. At the end of a workshop, the participants also solve a questionnaire about contentment with the conduction of the workshop, giving them the opportunity to contribute their ideas and thoughts on improvements.

Measurements of progress are crucial to us, as they provide the basis on which we can try to introduce POCUS into a regular course.