Post COVID Evaluation of Osteopathic Student Ultrasound Education at Des Moines University
Description
Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous non-invasive imaging tool due to its ease of use, real time diagnostic capabilities, low cost, and increasing portability. Des Moines University (DMU) integrated ultrasound into the first two years of its Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) program since 2017. The focus of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the program by quantifying improvements in student’s knowledge base and identifying areas of potential improvement after the shutdown of the laboratory portions over the COIVID crisis. 178 DO students (20.2% response rate) in 2023 responded to a 5-point Likert scale survey evaluating the ultrasounds program’s ability to teach clinically relevant material, and student’s overall satisfaction with the program. Using a one sample t-test, students reported overall satisfaction with the integrated ultrasound program (78.4% reported meets or exceed expectations; p< 0.05). Student responds demonstrated a significant improvement in their anatomical (59.3% reported improvement; p< 0.05) and cardiac physiology knowledge base (74.4% reported improvement; p< 0.05). In applied clinical knowledge, students reported a significant improvement in their clinical medicine abilities (77.2% reported improvement; p< 0.05) and trauma evaluation via the FAST exam (88.3% reported improvement; p< 0.05). The implementation of an integrated ultrasound program within DMU’s preclinical curriculum has shown improvement in student anatomical knowledge and applied clinical abilities.
Citation Information
Christensen, Matthew; Kadakia, Hirali; Fell, John; and Carnevale, Kevin A., "Post COVID Evaluation of Osteopathic Student Ultrasound Education at Des Moines University" (2026). Office of Research DMU Research Symposium. 48.
https://digitalcommons.dmu.edu/researchsymposium/2025rs/2025abstracts/48
Post COVID Evaluation of Osteopathic Student Ultrasound Education at Des Moines University
Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous non-invasive imaging tool due to its ease of use, real time diagnostic capabilities, low cost, and increasing portability. Des Moines University (DMU) integrated ultrasound into the first two years of its Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) program since 2017. The focus of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the program by quantifying improvements in student’s knowledge base and identifying areas of potential improvement after the shutdown of the laboratory portions over the COIVID crisis. 178 DO students (20.2% response rate) in 2023 responded to a 5-point Likert scale survey evaluating the ultrasounds program’s ability to teach clinically relevant material, and student’s overall satisfaction with the program. Using a one sample t-test, students reported overall satisfaction with the integrated ultrasound program (78.4% reported meets or exceed expectations; p< 0.05). Student responds demonstrated a significant improvement in their anatomical (59.3% reported improvement; p< 0.05) and cardiac physiology knowledge base (74.4% reported improvement; p< 0.05). In applied clinical knowledge, students reported a significant improvement in their clinical medicine abilities (77.2% reported improvement; p< 0.05) and trauma evaluation via the FAST exam (88.3% reported improvement; p< 0.05). The implementation of an integrated ultrasound program within DMU’s preclinical curriculum has shown improvement in student anatomical knowledge and applied clinical abilities.
