Incidental Findings in Student Ultrasound Models: Implications for Instructors

As ultrasonography continues to become integrated into undergraduate medical education, there have been concerns raised about the use of volunteer models and the ability to maintain patient privacy during scanning sessions. To date, there have been no reports on how instructors should manage situations in which incidental findings are made during educational ultrasonography sessions. We present three different examples of incidental findings that occurred at our institution and the various approaches taken by the instructors. Furthermore, we outline an approach that can be utilized by other medical schools to better maintain patient confidentiality.