Competency-based medical education studying live anatomy by ultrasound

A shared educational project A standardised curriculum which was developed by faculty experts in ultrasound was presented to the student body.3 Most students agreed to it. Since the academic year 2009, the San Paolo Medical School Didactic Council has approved vertically integrated courses of anatomy, technical skills training guided by peer tutors8,9 and ultrasound with an approved evaluation program. Training included the study of the musculoskeletal system, major arterial and venous vessels, visceral spaces of the neck (thyroid, carotid arteries, jugular veins), most of the viscera contained in the chest (heart), abdomen (liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, kidney, aorta and branches, inferior vena cava and its tributaries, portal vein and its tributaries), and pelvis (bladder, uterus, ovary).10 The course was supplied as follows: 1) Palpatory living anatomy: our intention was not to compete with clinical colleagues in teaching semeiotics. Each student dedicated 50 hours to attend this module: 20h were assisted by a tutor and 30h were selfstudy and self-training. 2) Ultrasound scanning knobology. 3) Musculoskeletal system, major neurovascular Bundles, thyroid gland (Ms/nvB) echography survey by means of a linear multi-frequency probe equipped ultrasound machine (Logic QE GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI, USA).