A Pilot Study of a Synchronous Virtual Ultrasound Imaging Module for Physiotherapy Education.

There was no control or comparison group, so nothing here shows the training caused the gains rather than repeated testing or something else. Small sample at a single institution, and everyone was a student on one programme. Only short-term outcomes were measured: no follow-up on whether the knowledge or the scanning skill was retained, and no scanning of real patients. The written test and the image-scoring rubric were never formally validated or checked for reliability, and only one expert scored the images, so the scores themselves are uncertain. The survey went out an average of 10 days after the session, which the authors say could introduce recall bias. The authors state the results should not be read as evidence of clinical competency or readiness for independent imaging practice.

The funding statement says only that the authors have nothing to report, and the authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Do not take the improvement on the written test as proof this training works. There was no control group, the test and the image-marking scale were never checked for reliability, and the authors say themselves the results are not evidence of clinical competency.