Improving students' ability to perform a standardized foetal biometry plane using ultrasound simulators.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess progress made in the ultrasound (US) measurement of femur length (FL) by students after one hour of training on US obstetric simulators.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical residents and midwives registered for the 2016 French national foetal US diploma were invited to a 1-hour US training course with simulators. The time to acquire the FL plane with changing foetal presentation was prospectively measured before and after the training. Every image was recorded, and quality criteria were assessed.

RESULTS: Thirty new learners trained in foetal US were evaluated. The time needed to measure the FL was significantly shorter in the post-test versus the pre-test (86s versus 125, P=0.015). The quality criteria were statistically similar before and after training regarding the angle to horizontal (10.0° versus 9.6°, P=0.84) and FL (31.3mm versus 32.0mm, P=0.15).

CONCLUSION: The time needed to obtain the FL plane was reduced by 30% after a 1-hour US simulation training session.