The Oldest Form of Medicine Meets the Newest Technology
Medical students at Touro University Nevada’s College of Osteopathic Medicine each receive a personal hand-held ultrasound device, Vave.
The device is able to connect to a user’s mobile device with no wires allowing them to capture imaging evidence in any setting, which is essential when working with rural communities or doing medical outreach events. Long gone are the days of being tied to a wheeled device or waiting for a referral for one area to be imaged, with this new technology students are helping patients faster than ever.
Touro Nevada has been working with Vave Health since 2020 to provide Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) students with the device that they will use during their education and keep after graduation. In 2024, for the first time, all DO cohorts received the device during their white coat ceremony, making the initiation of their medical school journey even more significant.
During their first two years of didactic education, they will learn how to use Vave, which will enhance a student’s ability to understand not just general anatomy but also how anatomy responds in the moment to external stimuli. As students move into clinical rotations, they will be able to use their knowledge in a real-world environment with actual patients with a preceptor providing oversight. These educational experiences serve as the foundation for their future success, and Touro Nevada is proud to provide them with the latest technology, ensuring they have the tools they need to excel.
“Using this device is important for general medicine by eliminating a referral and can get focused images on a patient immediately to quickly identify the problem to move towards a diagnosis or recommending deeper imaging if needed,” said Dr. Wolfgang Gilliar, Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “It is also amazing in critical care and cardiology when time is a critical factor when working in life-threatening situations.”
On this particular day Touro Nevada students were focused on the abdominal anatomy finding the kidney, spleen, and gallbladder. A second-year student shared that the experience makes you rethink your anatomy. He aspires to become an obstetrician, where strong ultrasound skills are crucial for matching to a good residency and making him a competitive candidate.
Renee Dversdal, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Vave Health and professor at Oregon Health & Science University, agrees that these four-year experiences make students stronger compared to just providing an educational workshop. “I believe it would be a disservice if we only taught students clinical subjects. No matter what path the student chooses once they graduate medical school, they should know all key foundational skills. With this more in-depth learning over four years will better prepare students for residency. During residency they just get to learn how to be really good at whatever specialty they’ve selected.”
As the dean Dr. Gilliar feels it is mission to help students grow both as human beings while becoming the best professionals they can be in order to serve in the role and capacity of the most modern physicians we can think of. “While I teach students how to use their hands with osteopathic medicine, the Vave device is the perfect complement to a student’s ability to diagnose and treat a patient. It is truly a mix of using old medicine and new technology,” Dr. Gilliar declared. The point-of-care devices are the future and are what the stethoscope was a century ago.
Second-year student doctor Anna Biosca Calafell shared, “Vave devices makes us feel like we’re a little bit more like physicians already. It's very hands-on, which is really awesome. I’m excited to use it during rotations, and I am thinking of going into family medicine where I know I will be using it a lot. It will help before making my final decision about a diagnosis. It is a really great opportunity that gives me an extra tool as a physician to help my patients.”
