Background: Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) requires on-going practice to retain knowledge. Teledidatic teaching formats, as the recently presented TELMUS study [1], are a promising approach to increase training opportunities on a local and global level. Particularly due to personnel and time resource limitations, the identification of adequate time intervals for repetition and consolidation of MSUS training is necessary in order to design efficient and skill-sustaining MSUS curricula. However, the long-term effects of teledidactic MSUS training have not yet been investigated.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term retention of MSUS skills in medical students that participated in an ultrasound elective following an innovative teledidactic approach with remote instructions and portable ultrasound devices. Additionally, the study aimed to discover any delayed variances in the success of teledidactic MSUS training when contrasted with traditional in-person campus courses.

Methods: One year after conducting the teledidactic TELMUS MSUS course, the remaining skills of medical students in acquiring and interpreting MSUS images were tested by repeating an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). The assessment protocol included the acquisition of selected standard sections of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, finger, hip, knee, ankle and toe joints as well as image optimization and fundamental evaluation of potentially occurring pathologies, such as joint effusions and hypervascularisation. Resulting OSCE scores were then compared to the results of students who had undergone a conventional on-campus MSUS training.

Results: Twenty-three of the thirty students previously trained participated in the follow-up OSCE. Seven students were lost-to-follow-up due to completion of their medical studies in foreign countries. A significant decline in practical MSUS skills one year after the training course was recorded in both groups. While the average OSCE-score immediately after completing the MSUS training had been 90.9% (SD ±6.74), students achieved a mean score of 83.4% (SD ±10.6) a year later in the follow-up-OSCE. There remained no significant difference between the two teaching groups, consistent with the initial findings.

Conclusion: A year later, medical students who had exclusively undergone teledidactic training in MSUS demonstrated equivalent performance in a standardized follow-up OSCE as their peers who completed an on-campus course. These results show that teledidactic teaching formats lead to an equivalent maintenance of practical MSUS skills long-term and can serve as a sustainable didactic approach in medical education. However, the measured decline of skills in both study cohorts emphasizes the crucial importance of repetition in student ultrasound education, preferably in form of a longitudinal curricular implementation. Time intervals in between refresher courses should be adjusted individually according to the respective skills taught and the desired level of competence at the end of medical studies.

REFERENCES: [1] Neubauer R, Recker F, Bauer CJ, et al. AB1527 Teledidactic musculoskeletal ultrasound course and comparison with conventional on-campus training - Interim analysis of the TELMUS study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases . 2023;82:1995–6.

Acknowledgements: NIL.

Disclosure of Interests: None declared.