A comparison of telemedicine teaching to in-person teaching for the acquisition of an ultrasound skill - a pilot project.

Telemedicine is widely used for medical education but few studies directly investigate how telemedicine teaching compares to conventional in-person teaching. Here we determine whether telemedicine teaching is as effective as in-person teaching for the acquisition of an ultrasound skill important in trauma care. Nurses with no prior ultrasound experience (n = 10) received study material and a teaching session on how to locate and image the hepatorenal space (Morison's pouch). One group of nurses was taught in-person (In-person Group) and the other group was taught via telemedicine (Telemedicine Group). Telemedicine allowed two-way audio and visual communication between the instructor and the nurses. A comparison of the teaching techniques showed that telemedicine teaching was equivalent to in-person teaching for the acquisition of practical and theoretical skills required to locate Morison's pouch. The average time required to locate Morison's pouch after teaching was similar between both groups. The results demonstrate that telemedicine teaching is as effective as in-person teaching for the acquisition of bedside ultrasound skills necessary to identify Morison's pouch. Remote teaching of these bedside ultrasound skills may help in the diagnosis of intra-abdominal bleeding in rural healthcare centers.