Investigating the Skill Development of Medical Students in Focused Assessment With Sonography for Trauma (FAST) Ultrasound: A Comparative Analysis Across Different Stages of Medical Training

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2023-08, Vol.15 (8), p.e44414-e44414
• Main Authors: Atalla, Michael, Yacoub, Andrew, Al-Ali, Hasan, Lupia, Bianca, Ezzeddine, Layal, Barzani, Shaliz, Moussa, Michelle, Coey, James, Alambrouk, Tarek, Hilal, Haider
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anatomy; Medical Education; Radiology
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.44414

INTRODUCTIONFocused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) ultrasound (US) is a valuable medical examination used in trauma settings, particularly for rapid responses to events such as natural disasters. Although the efficacy and benefits of FAST in patient care have been extensively studied, there is limited research on training medical students in FAST. Previous studies have found that medical students can proficiently perform a FAST US after two days of training. However, these studies exclusively included first-year medical students without considering variations in their medical knowledge. Particularly, the advantage of medical students having US experience before undergoing FAST training has not been previously examined. OBJECTIVESAssess the performance and knowledge acquisition of medical students with and without prior US experience after completing a FAST training course. METHODSThe study included a total of 71 students, consisting of 33 males and 38 females, who were between the ages of 18 and 31, with an average age of 24.6 and a standard deviation of 2.4. The inclusion criteria targeted first- and second-year medical school students who participated on a volunteer basis. Students were divided into two groups: group A, consisting of those without prior US experience, and group B, made up of those who had previous US experience. All students completed a pre-training survey to share their comfort and confidence in US use and knowledge. A baseline FAST exam was conducted to establish initial performance. A comprehensive three-hour training session was then provided. Post-training, students performed another FAST exam to assess improvement, followed by a post-training survey to evaluate comfort and confidence. RESULTSMedical students who had prior experience in the US (group B) performed significantly better (p