Focused cardiac ultrasound training in medical students: Using an independent, simulator-based curriculum to objectively measure skill acquisition and learning curve.

Background: Using simulators built and validated at the University of Washington (UW), the study sought to test whether medical students can learn the basic skills of focused cardiac ultrasound (FoCUS) from an individually paced, simulator-based curriculum, how skills improve, and the rate at which these skills are acquired.

Methods: The curriculum presented didactic material interspersed with hands-on practice. Psychomotor skill was measured by the angle error of the acquired image view plane relative to the correct image view plane.

Formative Assessment of Performance in Diagnostic Ultrasound Using Simulation and Quantitative and Objective Metrics.

Background: We developed simulator-based tools for assessing provider competence in transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and vascular duplex scanning.

Methods: Psychomotor (technical) skill in TTE image acquisition was calculated from the deviation angle of an acquired image from the anatomically correct view. We applied this metric for formative assessment to give feedback to learners and evaluate curricula.

Integrating Scaffolding and Deliberate Practice Into Focused Cardiac Ultrasound Training: A Simulator Curriculum.

Introduction: Focused cardiac ultrasound (FoCUS) is widely used for the point-of-care evaluation of basic cardiac pathology, and there is a need for efficient and consistent training in this modality. We designed a simulator-based FoCUS curriculum that integrates instructional scaffolding and deliberate practice to create a directed, self-regulated learning experience for novices. The goal of this strategy was to guide the novice's learning efforts more efficiently and moderate cognitive load while retaining the benefits of independent learning.

Circadian regulation of insect olfactory learning.

Olfactory learning in insects has been used extensively for studies on the neurobiology, genetics, and molecular biology of learning and memory. We show here that the ability of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae to acquire olfactory memories is regulated by the circadian system. We investigated the effect of training and testing at different circadian phases on performance in an odor-discrimination test administered 30 min after training (short-term memory) or 48 h after training (long-term memory).