Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University Providing All Second-Year Students with Butterfly iQ+ Ultrasound Devices

Each member of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Class of 2024 received Butterfly iQ+ ultrasound devices at a special event at the school today, Monday, October 4. The Katz School of Medicine provided the students with the handheld, portable ultrasound devices. This comes just two months after each member of the Katz School of Medicine Class of 2025 received the devices at the annual White Coat Ceremony thanks to a generous donation by Ronald Salvitti, MD ‘63. The gift was the first of its kind for medical students in Philadelphia and on the East Coast.

“We don’t want the medical education our students receive at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine to be obsolete on the day that they graduate,” said Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, Interim Dean and George S. Peters, MD and Louise C. Peters Chair and Professor of Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.  “Incorporating innovative technology into the first two years of our curriculum provides our students with not only knowledge and skills, to use this technology, but understand how it will help them to be better doctors.” 

From a medical education standpoint, ultrasound is almost like a stethoscope with eyes, revealing bodily structures to help the learner identify possible abnormalities. Using it in tandem with the stethoscope doubles down on diagnostic tools that enrich and accelerate medical student learning. Every first- and second-year Katz School of Medicine student now owns and will learn to use this technology, bringing them that much closer to the patient bedside, that much sooner.

The Butterfly iQ+ is an advanced assessment tool that unlocks the power and potential of point-of-care ultrasound. The probe is plugged into a mobile device, which then connects to the Butterfly iQ+ iOS or Android app. From there, the user can evaluate the patient at their bedside and scan for an image, which can be interpreted in real time. The device has access to six imaging modes and 21 presets, offering visualization of nearly every bodily structure, from bladder volume and cardiac flow, to lung imaging. It is portable and easy-to-use, allowing medical practitioners to incorporate ultrasound within their everyday practice at the point of care.

Lewis Katz School of Medicine Class of 2024 students will begin using the Butterfly iQ+ devices immediately with a basic introduction to ultrasound and then hands-on sessions in the classroom nearly every month. As they make their way through different coursework – anatomy, physiology, cardiology, etc. – they will learn important ways in which ultrasound can be used in different clinical contexts. The devices allow the school to dramatically enhance its ultrasound curriculum and provide students access to one of the most robust ultrasound programs available.