Background
Maternal and neonatal mortality remain unacceptably high in many countries around the world. Every year over 300,000 women die following complications in pregnancy and childbirth with 99% of these women dying in poorer countries. Most of these deaths are preventable. ISUOG believes that by ensuring every woman has access to a competent ultrasound professional, we can reduce maternal mortality and create a better, fairer world for women everywhere.
The use of ultrasound in low-income countries, however, has been restricted by equipment cost and a shortage of trained ultrasound professionals. The ISUOG Outreach program aims to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes by teaching healthcare providers to use ultrasound as an identification tool for conditions that increase the risk of complications for mothers. This course is not a comprehensive OB/GYN ultrasound course. The training program aims to provide a strong basis for competency in elementry OB/GYN ultrasound.
Overall Aim: Improving women’s healthcare services in underserved regions to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.
Vision: To increase access to and awareness of ultrasound, to provide effective training, to improve diagnosis and health outcomes
Course Content
The course consists of 3 phases of of training which focus highly on hands-on and practical components. Within the Outreach program these phases are undertaken over 3 weeks with a 6 month gap between each week, to allow for hands-on practice time. It utilizes multiple teaching approaches including lectures, case analysis, demonstration and hands-on clinical practice to ensure trainees secure both practical and theoretical skills in obstetric ultrasound care.
The daily structure includes morning hands-on practice in a clinical setting followed by lectures on a specific topic. The suggested topic schedule is as follows:
Training Resources
Video Resources
Assessment Tools
This course assesses trainees in a number of ways to evaluate their increase in knowledge and practical skills.
Pre- and Post-Training Assessment: Participants complete the pre-test on the first day to measure their preliminary knowledge of OB/GYN ultrasound. They then take the post-test on the last day of each phase of teaching. This is designed to measure their increase in knowledge.
Scanning Skills Competency Checklist: This is list of scanning skills that participants must demonstrate they are able to perform. Trainers will observe trainees individually during hand-on sessions to evaluate this.