Application of 3D printed model combined with case-based learning in prenatal ultrasound teaching of complex heart malformations in standardized residency training
Objective To investigate the application effect of 3D printed fetal heart model based on ultrasound data combined with case-based learning(CBL)in prenatal ultrasound teaching of complex heart malformations in standardized residency training of ultrasound medicine.Methods A total of 60 students majoring in ultrasound imaging who received standardized residency training in Ultrasonography Center of Obstetrics and Gynecology,Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University,from September 2020 to August 2022 were enrolled as subjects and divided into experimental group and control group,with 30 students in each group.The students in the experimental group received teaching with 3D printed fetal heart model and CBL teaching,and those in the control group received teaching with hand-painted heart diagram and CBL teaching.The two groups were compared in terms of the score of theoretical examination,the degree of satisfaction with teaching,and the self-rated score of the understanding of each disease before and after teaching,and the correlation of the increase in score with case complexity was also analyzed.MedCalc software was used to perform the t-test and the linear regression analysis.Results The experimental group had a significantly higher score of theoretical examination than the control group[(85.70±8.70)vs.(71.40±9.50)].The questionnaire survey showed that the experimental group had better feedbacks than the control group in the aspects such as the degree of satisfaction with teaching(P<0.05).After the implementation of this teaching model,compared with the control group,the experimental group had significantly higher self-rated scores of the understanding of case 2,case 3,case 4,and case 5(P<0.05).The increase in score after teaching was positively correlated with the complexity score of abnormal cases(R 2=0.90,P=0.010;R 2=0.94,P=0.010),and the experimental group tended to have a greater regression coefficient.Conclusions The reasonable application of 3D printed fetal heart model combined with CBL teaching in fetal heart teaching in standardized residency training of ultrasound medicine can help the students to understand and enhance the knowledge of cardiac anatomy,improve the learning experience of fetal echocardiography,and deepen the understanding and awareness of complex congenital heart disease.