SonoBowl: A Game, A Challenge, An Education

SonoBowlOn July 12, 2018, 4 teams of 4 sonography students each competed in the inaugural SonoBowl, a game pitting the students’ ultrasound knowledge and skills against each other. Howard Community College (HCC) hosted the event, which the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) sponsored, and teams from Howard Community College; Montgomery College; Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences; and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County participated. Although only 4 students from each team could participate, many more attended to observe.

IMG_0534

SonoBowl teams: HCC Sound Dragons are in red (as is their dragon), UMBC Dopplergangers are in black, PA Penguins are in white (4 in front), and MC Ultrasonic are in white (middle and back rows). AIUM staff are in blue.

If you are interested in hosting your own SonoBowl, you’re in luck. AIUM will be sharing instructions on recreating it, enabling schools around the country and abroad to create their own SonoBowl, where sonography students can come together to compete in ultrasound with question-and-answer sessions, scanning, and case challenges. The following is a review of the inaugural  SonoBowl. If you want all of the details, you’ll need a copy of the SonoBowl Playbook. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the SonoBowl Playbook, please let us know (learn@aium.org). AIUM members can access it here: https://www.aium.org/loginrequired/membersonly/sonobowl.aspx.

HCC and AIUM worked together to quickly pull this event together in just 2 months, including 6 conference calls and meetings—planning the itinerary, developing questions and case challenges, inviting teams and registering them, and setting up the event. Development began in May and concluded with the event, which included:

    • Round 1, Who Gives a Kahoot?: 30 multiple-choice questions and 1 bonus multiple-choice question on Kahoots;20180712_094549
    • Round 2, Mission I’m Possible: 3 rounds of scanning testing vascular, obstetric, and abdominal knowledge; and
  • Round 3, Have You Hertz About My Case Study?: A case challenge.

Round 1 was a question-and-answer session. Each team was supplied (by HCC) with a tablet to use for answering the questions as quickly as they could, as wins were based on speed as well as accuracy. The questions were developed by AIUM with input from Directors and faculty from the schools.

IMG_0591Round 2, which can be seen in this video, was a hands-on demonstration of the students’ skills. The teams were given 15 minutes at each station, equipped with an ultrasound machine and a model, to complete their task and answer the questions, which were provided on a form in an envelope and could be completed on a provided clipboard. A proctor at each station reviewed the image obtained for the task and indicated on the form whether it was correct and whether the answers to the question were each correct. After 15 minutes, the teams would rotate stations until all teams had competed at each station.

20180712_112324

For those students who attended but were not participating, a scavenger hunt was developed to fill this time. The students were randomly divided into 4 teams, each of which included students from each of the schools. Each team was given a campus map and a list hinting at 15 things to find around the campus. They were tasked with answering questions for some and taking a selfie at each to prove they found them. For example, one such hint was “Orange is definitely your color! Take a selfie with your face in the circle,” referring to a sculpture outside one of the buildings. Once Round 2 was complete, a lunch was provided.

Round 3 began with an announcement of where each team stood in the competition; HCC DMS Sound Dragons were in 4th place with 58 points, MC Ultrasonic was in 3rd with 66 points, and
UMBC Dopplergangers and PA Penguins were tied with 74 points each. Knowing how many points they had and the topic of the case study (gynecologic ultrasound), each team then indicated how many points they were willing to wager for the final round. All teams wagered their full points balance.

The teams were given a brief history for a case and shown the ultrasound images associated with it, then were given 1 minute to indicate which of 4 diagnoses was the correct one. After time was up, each team was asked to show their wager, beginning with the last place team, and the scores were adjusted based on their wager and whether they answered correctly. For this inaugural SonoBowl, MC Ultrasonic won the day with 132 points and was awarded the trophy to hold onto until next year’s SonoBowl, when it will be back up for grabs. Each of the winning team’s members also won a free AIUM student membership for a year and an insulated lunch bag containing AIUM gifts.

IMG_0619

If you are interested in receiving a copy of the SonoBowl Playbook, please let us know (learn@aium.org). AIUM members can access it here: https://www.aium.org/loginrequired/membersonly/sonobowl.aspx.

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine is a multidisciplinary medical association of more than 9000 physicians, sonographers, scientists, students, and other health care providers. Established in the early 1950s, the AIUM is dedicated to advancing the safe and effective use of ultrasound in medicine through professional and public education, research, development of guidelines, and accreditation.

The Rolling Sonograms

“Hold still and keep your eye shut tight,” I instructed, as I lathered my probe with gel and placed it carefully on my model’s left eye. Having just narrowly escaped the brink of elimination, we were riding a wave of momentum. The trophy was so close we could taste it, but the final round of SonoSlam 2017 was a real-time scan-off on model patients, and our opponents had already proven their skill. Having a live audience didn’t make imaging a pupillary reflex or calculating ejection fraction any easier, and we were feeling the heat.

The day began with scans on rotating stations testing basic knowledge and technique for various organ systems. We struggled with the hepatobiliary station (turns out most teams did over the course of the day; guess we all need more practice) and the physics/knowledge station (I still don’t know how Fourier functions are used to convert sinusoidal data to Cartesian data to produce an image). Still, we put in a strong showing, and at halftime, of 27 teams, 2 of the 3 Ohio State teams placed in the top 5.

P1170780

image1

Round 2 was trickier but more entertaining than round 1, with stations designed to test our technique and creativity. Among the highlights: identifying an image acquired by a teammate via ultrasound charades, guiding a blindfolded teammate to acquire the correct scan using nothing but verbal cues, and acquiring a biopsy sample under ultrasound guidance. These were difficult, but despite a few groans of frustration, we enjoyed ourselves as we raced through the stations. We felt so good about our performance that we even let ourselves think ahead, speculating whether we would face our teammates in the final. That changed quickly, however, with the announcement of the finalists: we had made the final, but placed third, and were the only OSU team left.

The first challenge of the finals was Dr. Boulger’s favorite ultrasound game, the peel-and-reveal. Tiles filling the screen are removed one by one until someone correctly guesses the image underneath, with more points awarded the more tiles remained. Any hesitation or uncertainty meant more points for the competition, and only the top 2 teams would survive till the second round. Watching the other teams grab an early lead, we sweated bullets as we clawed our way back, only to fall behind again with a premature guess. It was neck-and-neck till the very end, when a gutsy call of McConnell’s sign from Sam edged us into second place. We collapsed back into our chairs in relief, and our attendings, watching from the back, let out their collective breath, probably.

For the final challenge, each team sent a representative to scan on live models behind a closed curtain, with their screens displayed for the audience to see. Each team member had to scan twice, and the audience would vote on the better image by way of cheers and applause. They were also allowed to give advice to the scanners, which meant the auditorium soon became a pandemonium of shouted instructions. Objectives included cardiac output and bladder calculations, MSK ultrasound, and ocular imaging. This time we took the early lead thanks to Charles’ affinity for shoulder scans, but quickly ran into setbacks as well (hard to measure bladder volume when the patient had just peed). We managed to keep up our momentum, however, and after 6 nerve-wracking rounds, we edged our opponents 4-2, clinching the SonoSlam championship for Ohio State for the second time.

Looking back on the day’s events, I am proud of our team’s accomplishments but also impressed with the competition. We have great mentors and almost a decade of ultrasound experience between the 3 of us, but some of the other teams were no less strong, and frankly we were very fortunate to take home the title. To me, this means a bright future for ultrasound education, as medical students across the country are learning valuable skills that will put them in good stead for residency and beyond. More importantly, it means that next year’s teams will have to step up their game, as Ohio State must now defend its title as 2-time SonoSlam champion. No pressure, guys.

Have you participated in SomoSlam? If so, tell us about your experience. Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

The 2017 SonoSlam champions, The Rolling Sonograms, was composed of Samatha King, Charles McCombs, and Jeffrey Yu. Samantha King is a fourth year medical student from the Ohio State University College of Medicine planning to pursue a career in emergency medicine. Charles McCombs is a third year medical student at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and hopes to end up in pediatrics and/or emergency medicine. Jeffrey Yu is an anesthesiology PGY-1 at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

The National Ultrasound Interest Group (NUSIG)

The National Ultrasound Interest Group (NUSIG) is a student-led organization founded in 2014 to promote ultrasound in undergraduate medical education. You may know us as the force behind planning national level events like SonoSlam. The bulk of NUSIG’s work, however, is sharing education and leadership resources between Ultrasound Interest Groups (USIGs) across the country. Each of the five regional representatives contact medical schools in their areas to exchange ideas, plan co-sponsored events, and see how NUSIG can assist them in evangelizing ultrasound.

SonoSlam_organizers

NUSIG provides everything from information on getting equipment and funding, to original educational content. Our podcast on iTunes (quickly closing on the 1,000 download mark) currently features a journal club series. Each episode is hosted by a different school evaluating an ultrasound-related article.

IMG_5405

Our next series is how to plan an Ultrafest, where we interview schools experienced in putting on these events. Our hope is that these USIGs can learn from each other, and other schools might be inspired to start their own UltraFest once it’s been laid out how. In the future, we aim to collect medical student level ultrasound lectures from across the country and publish them for anyone to view. Our vision is to serve as a central repository for the best medical student educational content available. Lastly, our twitter feed regularly features current ultrasound research articles and retweets outstanding free open access medical education content.

IMG_5401

If you want to learn more about us or get involved, check out our website at www.nationalusig.com, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook @NtlUSIG. You can find us on iTunes by searching for “NUSIG podcast.”

Are you a member of the National Ultrasound Interest Group? Did you attend this year’s SonoSlam? If so, share your thoughts and feedback. Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

Mat Goebel is in charge of Social Media for the National Ultrasound Interest Group and is a medical student at the University of California at San Diego.

Excellence in Education

It is an honor to receive the 2017 Peter H. Arger, MD, Excellence in Medical Student Education Award. I am fortunate to know Dr. Arger and recognize his remarkable achievements in education, accreditation, and leadership in ultrasound. It’s my great privilege to work with different students, whether they are medical students, residents, fellows, sonography students, vascular technology students, or physicians of different medical specialties. I have had many great teachers and mentors toJohn_Pellerito learn from. Some of my favorite teachers like Barry Goldberg, Ken Taylor, Chris Merritt, and Peter Arger have the gift to communicate complex ideas and make them simple and easy to understand. Teachers at that level inspire me to be the best I can be.

I know there are many educators who understand that feeling when a student “gets it.” The anatomy and physiology that they’ve been studying comes to life. When the ultrasound unit is no longer a confusing mess of dials and buttons and becomes a window into the human body. When they realize that in their hands, ultrasound can make a difference in patient care.

I am lucky to work with a team of physicians and sonographers who enjoy teaching our medical students. We meet to devise new ways to integrate ultrasound into our longitudinal 4-year ultrasound program. One of the techniques we use to engage our students is to integrate games into our classes. Our SONICS (SONographic Integration of Clinical skills and Structure) faculty has enjoyed putting together ultrasound games for our students. We find that gaming increases their excitement and takes advantage of their competitive edge. One of our latest creations, the Hunger Games (J Ultrasound Med 2017; 36:361–365), has proven very successful.

During this class, we ask one member of each student team to fast prior to a scan of the gallbladder and mesenteric arteries. Following a breakfast of a bagel and cream cheese, the students are rescanned to assess for changes in gallbladder size and mesenteric blood flow. All scanning is performed by the students with faculty guidance. One team is deemed the “winner” and awards are given. The session combines both anatomic and physiologic principles to learn about gastrointestinal and vascular function and incorporate Doppler techniques. This activity provides the foundation for a powerful integration of Doppler ultrasound into medical education.

What are some of the ways that you have engaged your students with fun and interactive ultrasound programs? Do you have any stories from your own education to share? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.

John S. Pellerito, MD, is professor of Radiology at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and Vice Chairman of Radiology at Northwell Health.

SonoSlam 2017

16SonoSlam_logoIf you attended the AIUM convention the past 2 years you may have heard mention of SonoSlam in passing. So what is it? SonoSlam is a medical student ultrasound competition and educational event. It was conceived as an idea to promote medical student ultrasound and was officially born in Orlando in 2015. A few members of the medical education committee were discussing how to get students more engaged in ultrasound at the national level. A national ultrasound student interest group had been formed and got behind the idea of nationalizing ultrasound activities for medical students. Many of us had been involved in regional events such as Ultrafest or had participated in Sonogames™, an emergency medicine resident ultrasound competition. As we brainstormed, SonoSlam came to fruition. We wanted this event to be more than a game, making sure to integrate education into the proceedings. Given the diversity of exposure to ultrasound in undergraduate medical education, the faculty wanted to ensure that this event would be appealing to students of all levels of experience. In addition, the unique offering of AIUM is that this event would be multidisciplinary. With these key components of education, competition, and a multidisciplinary approach SonoSlam was created. The inaugural SonoSlam was held in New York in 2016 with the winning team awarded the Peter Arger Cup, named after the famed radiologist who championed medical student ultrasound education at the AIUM. Seventeen teams from 12 different schools participated in this inaugural event with more than 30 faculty from across the country. This year in Orlando we grew to 23 teams from 17 schools from across the country—Oregon to New York to Florida and all in between. We had more than 50 faculty from a multitude of specialties, including emergency medicine, internal medicine, critical care, obstetrics and gynecology, radiology, and pediatrics. We plan to continue to host this event annually with the lofty goal of having representation from every medical school in the country. We hope to see you in New York March 24, 2018!

SonoSlam2017

For more information about SonoSlam or if you are interested in getting involved please email us: sonoslam@gmail.com.

Written by Creagh Boulger, Rachel Liu, and Dave Bahner. Creagh Boulger, MD, RDMS, FACEP, is Assistant Professor, Assistant Director of Ultrasound, and Assistant Fellowship Director of Emergency Ultrasound at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Rachel Liu, BAO, MBBCh, is Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Education at Yale University School of Medicine. Dave Bahner, MD, RDMS, FAIUM, FAAEM, FACEP, is Professor and Director of Ultrasound, Fellowship Director, Investigator, and Core Faculty at Ohio State University.

How do you make ultrasound education engaging? Do you have any ideas for bringing students from across the country together? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound.