Colorado Ultrafest

Sunday, November 01, 2015 11:28 AM

Medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Rocky Vista University collaborated to present Colorado Ultrafest, a free one-day symposium that provided hands-on experience with point-of-care ultrasound in a wide variety of applications.

More than 200 students gathered at Anschutz Medical Campus on Oct. 3 to participate in lectures and demonstrations as well as hours of hands-on experience led by faculty from multiple specialties and medical students and residents with advanced ultrasound skills. Lunchtime “sonogames” gave students the opportunity to use their skills to compete for prizes.

The event was coordinated by the Colorado Ultrasound Interest Group (USIG), comprising students from both Colorado medical schools, with the purpose of providing medical students with a foundation of ultrasound knowledge and the practical skills and confidence to utilize this knowledge at the patient’s bedside. Over the past seven months, interested members from the USIGs at RVUCOM and CU-SOM formed an executive committee; met monthly in person or by web conferencing; and arranged sponsors to provide donations for food, marketing, onsite materials and equipment.

This event was based on a model that debuted at the University of California-Irvine in 2012 and has since spread to medical schools around the country, including Stanford and Ohio State. Lane Thaut, a fourth-year medical student at RVUCOM and co-founder and vice president of the RVU USIG, attended a UC-Irvine Ultrafest and, along with fellow USIG members and supporting faculty, worked to bring the event to Colorado.

Medical students from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Rocky Vista University practice ocular ultrasound at the 2015 Colorado Ultrafest.

“We saw a benefit to introducing students to ultrasound early on in medical education. The use of point-of-care ultrasound by medical professionals is increasing and we wanted to introduce and increase medical students’ interest in ultrasound with this event. ‘Get as many hands on probes as possible’ was our goal,” he said.

Thaut plans to pursue emergency medicine and possibly seek an ultrasound fellowship; he looks forward to using ultrasound in residency and practice. “Not only is ultrasound an excellent diagnostic tool, it fosters a doctor-patient relationship and offers real-time feedback for clinical decisions,” he said. “Obtaining a patient’s real-time physiology and pathology in a non-invasive manner can really impact a patient’s care and outcome.”

Students praised the event for the high-caliber instruction and the number of machines available.

Attendees gave positive reviews for the event, Thaut said. They were particularly impressed by high-caliber instruction that was often one-on-one; as well as the organization of the event, the number of quality machines, the food and the fact that the event was free. Attendees from schools as far away as Texas attended, as well as a paramedic and a few nursing students.

The Colorado USIG will continue to host ultrasound-related events for members throughout the year to build on new ultrasound curriculums adopted at CU-SOM and RVUCOM. The organizers also hope to see Colorado Ultrafest continue as an annual event. “We really hope students next year pick up the baton to continue this event,” Thaut said. “It was a great success and we hope for it to happen again.”