Some of these patients aren't pregnant YET, but they're on ovulation meds, so you'll want you to look at this unique appearance of ovaries with multiple follicles on them. You won't get much of this in our department.

Some of these patients are there to have their first ultrasound done to confirm WHERE their pregnancy is. These patients are likely those who have had difficulty getting pregnant in the first place, have had a positive urine test, and are there to look to see if their pregnancy is intrauterine or not.

These patients represent that unique patient population at increased risk for ectopic pregnancy and heterotopic pregnancy. As such, the general rule in the ER for the general population that "finding an intrauterine pregnancy rules out a concurrent ectopic pregnancy" DOESN'T apply! Keep that in mind as you're scanning these patients.

Some of these patients have had multiple fertilized eggs implanted, and you might encounter multiple gestations as well.

The techs are ultimately in charge of you and what you can do, but I hope they would at least allow you to participate in the following...

1. let you drape the probe with the probe cover a few times to show how to do it and get the bubbles out

2.  insert the probe and show them you can find the uterine stripe in long axis

3. quiz you every once in a while regarding what they're looking at on the screen and whether or not there's free pelvic fluid

4. maybe when they completed the scan, they give the probe back to you to do a quick re-scan.

If the technicians are busy and all they'll let you do is observe, then observe astutely with a good attitude.

You do not need to worry about saving images, their machines are too complex to need to worry have to save / to learn their knobology.

At the end of the day, I'd like you to have a sheet of paper with a list of all the scans you participated in. We’ll have you log these studies into qpath later (they’ll be blank, but we can still track what you did that day).

Some women might now want any students or residents (especially males) in the room. If that happens, no big deal, wait for the next exam.

The studies you participate in will NOT be able to be counted towards your required scans for the month, as they can not be QA'd by us.

But, we will still include them in your overall count for residency, which will go on your credentialing letter and log when you graduate.

Hence, it is important to keep track of them. Here is how you log them...

• Keep a sticker from every patient you see.

• When you are back at KU on your next ultrasound scanning or clinical shift, go to one of our ultrasound machines in the ED.

• Enter as much info as you can from the patient stickers into the machine, just as if you were about to start scanning. Include first name, last name, and MRN.

• Don't forget to enter your username in the usual location.

• Start the study, and save a "blank image" of the air or whatever.  This will create a "line" in Qpath for that patient for you to find.

• Repeat this each time for each patient / sticker you have.

• When you have done this for all your stickers, go to Q-Path. 

• Make each study a "TRAIN - KU FERTILITY CLINIC TRANSVAG" if they were transvaginal, and "TRAIN - KU FERTILITY CLINIC TRANSABD" if they were transabdominal.

• Open each study, and click the attestation, "I participated in the ultrasound imaging of this patient under the supervision of an ultrasound technician."

• Then sign each study.