University of Derby opens new Ultrasound Simulation Suite with ScanTrainer

MedaPhor Group plc is pleased to announce that the University of Derby has purchased an additional six ScanTrainer ultrasound simulators for its new Ultrasound Simulation Suite, which will act as a learning centre for students on the University’s ultrasound master’s degree courses.

The University had already purchased two ScanTrainer systems in 2014 in order to offer a flexible learning environment for ultrasound students looking to practise scanning both in and out of class time. Since then, the University’s postgraduate course offering has expanded and now includes a direct entry master’s programme designed specifically to fast-track students from non-clinical backgrounds into a sonography career and aid the healthcare industry’s increasing skills shortage.

The new high-end learning facility, which opened on September 26, has been designed specifically to cater for the training needs of the University’s exponentially growing ultrasound student base. It houses three transvaginal and three transabdominal systems with a further two ScanTrainer systems also being used by students at the University’s Chesterfield campus.

Connected by ScanTrainer Cloud, the systems will also be able to offer students access to their results, tutor feedback and learning resources from home, as well as share cases across the campuses for a collaborative learning experience for all ultrasound students.

Heather Venables, Senior Lecturer in Medical Ultrasound at the University of Derby, said:
“The ScanTrainer system continues to be a game changer in how we approach sonographer training. Simulation is now a fully integrated part of our strategy for curriculum delivery and plays a key role in student support, particularly for pre-clinical ultrasound skills development.

“The ScanTrainer system provides not only a platform for basic skills practise and assessment but also a wide range of learning packages that can be tailored to individual student needs. This has the potential to reduce pressure on clinical departments, expand placement capacity, reduce the impact of student training on patients and improve student experience. So far, feedback from both students and clinical colleagues has been hugely encouraging.”

Iain Dunbar, Head of Sales at MedaPhor, added:
“The ultrasound skills gap is an increasing challenge for hospitals and we are seeing a growing response by UK universities such as Derby, Teesside and Cumbria who are helping to bridge this gap. They are doing so by creating ultrasound programmes that are taking the clinical pressure off the hospitals to train and moving this back into the educational environment where they can acquire hard-to-learn ultrasound skills in a patient-safe simulated environment.

“ScanTrainer enables them to offer a high standard of simulated learning that their students require before entering the clinical environment.”

For more information visit: http://www.derby.ac.uk/health/diagnostic-imaging/facilities/