Ultrasound

Excerpt

The accompanying paper about the current and future direction of ultrasound, prepared by two European ultrasound experts, provides provoking food for thought [1]. There is no doubt that ultrasound equipment is becoming cheaper and better, and that the technique is being disseminated into a much larger pool of operators, all with varying skills, dexterity and experience. Not all these operators will be radiologists. In most European countries, training in radiology is becoming devolved very much according to system-based experience (cardiothoracic, neuroradiology, gastrointestinal, etc.) rather than the technique-based training of old (plain radiography, fluoroscopy, US, CT, MR, NM, etc.). In the past, young radiologists might have rotated to ultrasound for a prolonged block of 3–4 months, where they would have “lived, eaten and breathed” ultrasound to the exclusion of nearly everything else. In this way, they would have gained a full understanding of the various machines and technical aspects, while gaining skills, dexterity and practical know-how. They would also have observed numerous colleagues pushing the frontiers of ultrasound. In the current system, practical skills and understanding of equipment are gained in the first year of training and diagnostic skills are acquired during organ-based training where applicable. The individual-system-based radiologists will have training in all aspects of ultrasound but will subsequently become extremely competent in examining areas within their own field of expertise—for example, a musculoskeletal radiologist will become highly skilled in assessing the rotator cuff. As a result, such radiologists will lose experience of other organ diseases and will probably be less conversant with the use of some of the latest developments in the field such as ultrasound contrast media. This may limit the future development of ultrasound into the sub-specialty areas. …