Evaluation eines Einführungskurses in die Abdomensonographie an einem Health Care Center in Tansania: Eine retrospektiv deskriptive Studie

In September 2017 the Interdisciplinary Ultrasound Department of the University Hospital in Marburg/Germany conducted an “Introduction Course into Abdominal Ultrasound” at the Faraja Health Care Center in Himo/Tanzania. The introduction course was supposed to characterize the applicability and probability of success of an ultrasound curriculum, which the German Society for Ultrasound in Medicine originally designed for German physicians. Ten Tanzanian individuals participated in the five-day introduction course and its final examination about theoretical and practical aspects of ultrasound diagnostics. A German control group was enrolled, consisting of 46 medical students of the Philipps University in Marburg who had completed comparable theoretical and practical ultrasound training during their studies. The retrospective evaluation of the “Introduction Course into Abdominal Ultrasound” showed that the course had a measurable positive impact on the ultrasound knowledge of the participants; the Tanzanian group didn’t achieve statistically significant lower results than the German control group; the „Basic and Advanced Course for Abdominal Ultrasound“ designed by the German Society for Ultrasound in Medicine constitutes a good starting point for an ultrasound curriculum in internal medicine, which should be intensified in the field of emergency ultrasound and completed by gynaecological/obstetric ultrasound; a structured ultrasound curriculum should be consolidated by a two to three month practical training, whereby its supervision potentially requires more time and economic resources than the curriculum itself; physicians represent a key target group for ultrasound courses in Tanzania, though Tanzanian “Medical Officers” might also be considered (in case physicians are not available); approaches for sustainability and quality assurance of an ultrasound training should already be started during the planning process. The outcome of the “Introduction Course into Abdominal Ultrasound” encourages the continuation on subsequent courses at the Faraja Hospital in Tanzania according to the standards of the German Society for Ultrasound in Medicine. In following courses an extensive practical training and approaches for sustainability and quality assurance should receive special attention.