Medical Anatomy Center training and presentations
COMP-Northwest Professor Brion Benninger, MD, Executive Director of the Medical Anatomy Center (MAC), and first-year COMP-Northwest students Ethan Fulsher, Maxwell McDaniel, Emily Akamine, Patrick Forcier, Daniel Damron, Joseph Yankee, Morgan Weiss, Sarah Sanasac, and Jordan Davis, representing the MAC and ultrasound club, demonstrated and taught ultrasound with mixed-reality learning workshops for the Minority Association for Pre-Medical students UO Med Advance 2024 Healthcare Convention May 11, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon.
“I was extremely proud how engaging and skilled our first year OMS trainees were at involving every undergrad student who attended the ultrasound and mixed reality stations,” Benninger said.
Our students integrated GE Vscan air wireless handheld ultrasound probes and the Varjo XR-4 Mixed Reality headset system teaching musculoskeletal, ocular, endocrine and vascular ultrasound techniques with sonoanatomy identification. Dr. Benninger introduced a new teaching method which includes an interactive three-step audiovisual learning/teaching process integrating a two-minute YouTube video, Varjo XR-4 Mixed Reality headset system with a wireless GE Vscan air probe to introduce, execute and assess ultrasound skillset techniques involving surface anatomy landmark palpation, ultrasound probe placement, image acquisition and sonoanatomy identification. This convention enabled COMP-Northwest students’ opportunities to demonstrate their experiential skills while combining basic science knowledge, passion and technology to teach fundamental medical skills.
Dr. Benninger, fourth-year COMP-Northwest student Chris Cariello and second-year COMP-Northwest students Noah Swigart, Dennis Nguyen, and Maui Lee presented platform presentations at this year’s Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) conference May 1-5, 2024. The Annual Meeting addressed the theme “Focusing on the Patient: Improving Individual Outcomes and Experiences.” It featured high-quality research presentations and a dynamic program focused on the latest advances in the practice of obstetric anesthesia.
Noah Swigart, Dennis Nguyen, Maui Lee, and Dr. Benninger completed a novel research project testing a newly invented medical product the O2 Turbocap by Sharp Medical on GAX-specimen bodies with BriteVu contrast. “Assessing the Efficacy of an Innovative Airway Device Delivering Supplemental Oxygen During Intubation with GAX-specimens” was chosen as an oral presentation, which received accolades from the review panel and participants of the conference.
“There was certainly a buzz about the usefulness of the O2 Turbocap during difficult intubations with GAX-specimens,” Benninger said.
Chris Cariello presented an ultrasound-based research project titled “Planning for postpartum tubal ligation: aspiration risk during immediate postpartum period” with Stanford Anesthesiologists, which developed from a collaborative effort between the MAC and Stanford Anesthesia Department. Cariello demonstrated extraordinary ultrasound skills and was chosen to complete and present this project during his rotation with world experts in obstetric anesthesia at Stanford.
“I was very pleased with Noah Swigart’s presentation and the stellar accomplishments from Dennis Nguyen and Maui Lee to complete the project,” Benninger said. “I am exceptionally proud how Chris Cariello represented the MAC, COMP-Northwest and WesternU while completing a rotation and research at Stanford. We met several physician researchers who want to collaborate with the MAC and vice versa.”
