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Online education in vascular ultrasound
Fabrizio d’Abate, St. George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in London, UK describes new aspects of learning and training in ultrasound operation:
"A textbook represents the most traditional tool of a teaching arsenal. However, the IT boom and internet have transformed the way people approach different tasks in their lives, from solving a problem to acquiring knowledge. This has influenced the way of learning, that has become more dynamic and interactive. Never before has education been available on a large scale as it is now, with so much information and knowledge to convey to learners. Online courses are increasingly necessary for education ‘becoming not an add-on feature in teaching but a necessity’.
With online education users can proceed through a training program at their own pace, can access the training at any time, receiving only as much information as they need in an interactive way. The number of people opting for online courses worldwide is increasing due to busy lifestyle. Ultrasound is a fast growing diagnostic technique and is in constant demand, however, there remains a shortage of experienced operators in such a field, especially in vascular ultrasound.
The lack of a dedicated e-learning teaching platform in vascular ultrasound and the common passion in education shared by a vascular sonographer and a cardiovascular medicine doctor, gave life to www.abcvascular.com a new e-learning platform to support healthcare professionals who want to acquire knowledge and skills in vascular ultrasound.
The ABCvascular mission is to walk learners through all the steps necessary to learn vascular ultrasound, from the foundation notions (the ABC of vascular ultrasound), to the more advanced concepts used to diagnose vascular diseases, simplified into key learning points to make learning fast and easy.
The courses are supported by commented video-lectures where split screens are used to show patient positioning, operator’s hand/ultrasound transducer movements and ultrasound videos. This method of teaching is essential, as the information to acquire is inherently visual and dynamic. The aim is to offer learners a virtual experience of a one to one learning session with a vascular ultrasound expert. Learners are then challenged with real life case scenarios, where the explained diagnostic criteria are applied and explained. This will give the learner a virtual experience of vascular ultrasound in several vascular conditions. All courses and content of www.abcvascular.com have been accredited by the EACCME (European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education) to provide CME credits.
26.02.2019
