You can’t learn to drive from reading a book about driving
You can’t learn to shoot a bow and arrow from reading Zen and the Art of Archery
You can’t learn to build furniture from reading a Fine Woodworking (even if you read it every month).
So, why do we think we can learn ultrasound from an ultrasound short course?
This is the question that a veterinarian in my mobile practice asked me this week as he was frustrated that he attended “many” short courses and still could not make heads or tails of ultrasound. I believe he was equally frustrated by high cost of his machine, the large promises of the ultrasound sales rep, and the low return on investment.
Truth be told, the original ultrasound short courses in veterinary medicine were designed to get vets to buy machines. That is not my belief. That is the statement from the company who first designed these short courses. By and large, these courses have not changed much over the years and veterinarians are still buying ultrasound machines and not learning ultrasound.
The problem, however, is not with the veterinarians. As I have said 1000 times before. I can teach a monkey ultrasound and there is nothing genetically superior about a radiologist that allows them to perform as they do. Rather, radiologists have, through their residency, been afforded the time and patience of a mentor to teach them ultrasound. The question, is how can referring veterinarians learn ultrasound so they can maximize their investment without doing a residency?
Unfortunately, I do not have that answer but this is what I have learned over the years:
- You cannot learn ultrasound from a short course. You should still go but consider the short course like the drivers education class in high school. You will learn the rules of the road but until you get behind the wheel it does not matter that you know if “green means go” – you do not know how to drive.
- Books are more useless than an ultrasound course. Again, you should have one on hand but ultrasound is a dynamic modality and (at least for me) I cannot make heads or tails of most of what they are trying to show on static images in a book.
- Animal Insides readers have reported some good success with the Sonopath series of DVD’s. These DVD’s are more interactive than a book and are recommended1.
- The best bet for learning ultrasound is to pretend you are a resident. What we did was scan the abdomen then see what we missed when our mentor came in and scanned after us. To pretend you are a resident, work closely with a mobile sonographer in your area and scan the pets before they do. WARNING: will take up loads of time you do not have but, hey, that is the price you pay to learn ultrasound. There are no shortcuts2. I wish there were but ultrasound is a skill that takes time to develop.
Maybe ultrasound is an allegory for life. Everyone wants to lose weight but until you get off your duff and get put the spoon of peanut butter down it wont happen. Everyone wants to get rich quick but it does not work that way. Losing weight, getting rich, and learning ultrasound take time and there are no shortcuts. Now go lose that weight, get rich, and learn ultrasound.
Full Disclosure: This article was written sitting at my desk partially covered in hemorrhagic feces. I know I should not write or drive angry but I am a bit frustrated after wrestling with a dying dog who came to the vet hospital with static ultrasound images from the referring veterinarian in which numerous abnormalities were present on those images (e.g. the answer to this dog’s problem was right there on those images 2 weeks ago.) The vet said the abdominal ultrasound was normal. It was not. Now I am covered in hemorrhagic feces.
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- 1.See that Sonopath banner on this web page? They are an advertiser. Spank me if you want for the shameless plug but folks say the DVD’s are helpful