Congratulations to Dr. Mike Gilchrist (Internal Medicine) and team for being awarded a 2016-17 Innovation Grant from the North Carolina Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Their grant, entitled “Ultrasound as a tool to augment medical students’ clinical skills” was awarded $50,000 for the purchase of ultrasound equipment.
Under UNC SOM’s Translational Education at Carolina curriculum, the pre-clinical phase is divided into blocks: Principles of Medicine, Immunologic, Hematologic, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Urinary, Gastrointestinal, Neurologic, Human Behavior, Endocrine, Reproductive, Musculoskeletal, and Integumentary. Currently during weekly PCC sessions, students practice and develop physical examination skills on standardized patients and fellow students. As students progress through blocks, different examination skills are introduced and solidified.
The team will formally incorporate the use of US during UNC SOM’s ‘Patient Centered Care’ (PCC) clinical skills course. PCC is a required 3-hour/week course where students learn physical exam, history-taking, and clinical reasoning skills in small groups.
With this award, four 4 GE Logiq V2 ultrasounds with cardiac and vascular probes as well as two abdominal probes are now available to students in PCC as well as other programs. Students from the new UNC Physician’s Assistant program will be utilizing these devices this fall as well.
The team consists of Drs. Tommy Koonce (Family Medicine), Cristin Colford (Internal Medicine), Laura Young (Internal Medicine), and Ria Dancel (Internal Medicine/Pediatrics) from the UNC School of Medicine as well as Margaret Lewis (Emergency Medicine) from Carolinas HealthCare System and Ms Julie Messina from the UNC Clinical Skills and Patient Simulation Center.