From the frontline: how SIMTICS helps ultrasound professionals stay on top

By Angelique Praat

Working as an ultrasound technologist in a small radiology department brings challenges and opportunities. Cristina Adriano works for a Medical Group/Imaging Center in San Bernardino County, California. In her job, she isn’t surrounded by other ultrasound professionals every day. So she makes her own opportunities to stay on top of the field.

When she finished her training, almost eight years ago, Cristina searched for on-line tools to support her continuing professional development. She found the SIMTICS ultrasound eLearning modules and hasn’t looked back. SIMTICS offers multiple learning modes for ultrasound specialists and other allied health professionals: textual explanations of protocols, 2D and 3D anatomy models, quizzes, as well as online simulations of of the scanning procedures allow people to choose how they want to learn or, as in Cristina’s case, to refresh their knowledge of their fields.

For Cristina, the videos of professionals doing and explaining the protocols are her go-to mode of learning. ‘I’m a visual learner. I like to see what’s going on. The videos are very helpful and realistic. They refresh my knowledge of protocols I might not have done for a while.’ The interactive simulations then allow the user to put their video learning into practice, and also test their skill level.

Why SIMTICS? Cristina says it’s user friendly, accessible and informative . And it doesn’t cost the earth. Cristina buys different ultrasound modules as she needs them, or if she is just plain curious about a type of ultrasound assessment. Because SIMTICS is web-based, professional guidance is available when she needs it and where she needs it. “It’s been a savior at times. Questions of protocols and/or anatomy of scanning are all answered here.”

Cristina finds SIMTICS so valuable that she is paying for it herself. ‘There are other products out there – but not at the same affordable cost and not so user friendly. I recommend it to other ultrasound specialists. It’s so awesome, I love it!’

To find out more about SIMTICS, go to www.simtics.com
Thanks to Cristina Adriano for her help with this article.