Hand-Held Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A New Tool for Veterinary Student Self-Driven Learning in the Time of COVID-19.

This research focuses on how veterinary students enhanced their hands-on imaging skills, a core competency in their field, during the COVID-19 pandemic through a self-led virtual clerkship using the Butterfly iQ point-of-care ultrasound tool.

Introduction

• The COVID-19 pandemic forced many adjustments in education including for veterinary students. Their clinical rotations, widely known as clerkships, had to be conducted virtually, removing an opportunity for students to develop hands-on imaging skills.

The Challenge

• An important aspect of veterinary medicine is interpreting medical images, a skill usually acquired through in-person clerkships.
• The move to online pedagogy due to the pandemic prevented students from building these vital hands-on skills.

Solution: Butterfly iQ Point-of-Care Ultrasound

• Researchers introduced an innovative solution using smartphone-compatible point-of-care ultrasounds called the Butterfly iQ for veterinary students during a 3-week virtual clerkship.
• The Butterfly iQ is highly portable and easy to use, making it an excellent tool for generating high-quality images. This allowed the student to independently develop their imaging skills, even when distance learning was the only viable option.
• The student could apply the theory learned online, creating a synergy between virtual learning and hands-on experience using the Butterfly iQ tool.
• To practice, the student used three horses residing on their property, demonstrating that this approach can be replicated in numerous settings where animals are easily accessible.

Conclusion

• The use of the Butterfly iQ point-of-care ultrasound provides a viable, cost-effective solution for enhancing practical imaging skills among veterinary students during times when the traditional pedagogic approach of face-to-face learning is impossible.
• This research sheds light on new strategies to ensure the efficacy of remote learning in veterinary medicine without compromising important aspects of the curriculum. It demonstrates that technological solutions can provide alternative methods for hands-on experience, thus filling the learning gap created by the pandemic.