Ultrasound programme to benefit rural areas
THE COUNTRY’S first school for medical ultrasonic technicians has been open by the Chulabhorn Royal Academy in Bangkok.
The study programme to produce experts in the widely used diagnostic imaging technique stems from a collaboration between the academy’s HRH Princess Chulabhorn College of Medical Science and Australia’s Monash University, said Dr Jiraporn Laothamatas, head of the medical ultrasonic school-establishing project. The school is located in the 780 square-metre Chulabhorn Chalermprakiet Medical Centre, Chulabhorn Hospital.
The school will support the important task of producing medical ultrasonic technicians for hospitals in provinces and medical facilities in rural areas, thus helping to offset the shortage of medical personnel, she said. These medical ultrasonic technicians could conduct the tests themselves on the portable machines and then send the images online to expert doctors for diagnosis.
Such tests are particularly useful and even life saving for expecting mothers so that any complication during pregnancy can be detected quickly and treated. They can also help in determining the foetus position and thus reduce the fatality rate during childbirth, according to Jiraporn.
The collaboration with Monash University is especially beneficial because this leading Australian institute has long experience and expertise in teaching such a programme, she added.