The new Bar Ilan Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee has now hosted its first two classes of anatomy studies, a vital part of the first year's curriculum. From the outset, the organizers of the course decided to include cross-sectional radiologic anatomy as part of the students' schedule, together with standard anatomy lectures and a classic dissection laboratory. However, in addition to studies in cross-sectional anatomy in a computer laboratory setting, it was decided to provide the students with theoretical and practical knowledge of ultrasound.
Touted for years as the "stethoscope of the future", ultrasound today is ubiquitous in nearly every specialty in medicine, including those where a stethoscope is used only infrequently. Thus, giving students some background in ultrasound would theoretically prepare them for that aspect of their clinical studies.
The ultrasound portion of the anatomy course was coordinated with the anatomy lectures, radiology computer lab and dissection lab. An introductory lecture gave the students both a theoretical and practical background in diagnostic ultrasound, including basic physics, terminology, and clinical applications. During the subsequent ultrasound hands-on labs, sessions were begun with a review of basic principles, followed by the instructor's demonstration of an ultrasound examination on a student volunteer, emphasizing the normal anatomical structures the students had learned in the previous days. The students then examined each other under the supervision of the clinical instructor. In general, there were two groups of ten students using the two ultrasound units available.
The feedback from the students the first year was positive, with the ultrasound sessions scoring as highly as the cadaver dissection lab, and generating much excitement among the students. The feedback from the second year's course is still pending.
Our conclusion is that the study of ultrasound anatomy and technique is feasible in a first-year medical school anatomy course, and will broaden the imaging knowledge of students as they enter their clinical studies.
