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. 2014 Dec 18;3(4):e77. doi: 10.2196/resprot.3797

Table 1.

Phases of ultrasound training in GRAPHSa.

Phase of training Trainer Participants Length of training Topics covered
Phase 1 Trial obstetrician-perinatologist All midwives (15) performing antenatal care at study district hospitals 1 week Didactics: Basic obstetric ultrasound including assessment of viability, location of the pregnancy, placental location, plurality of the gestation, introduction to fetal biometry
Hands-on: viability, pregnancy location, plurality, placental location
Phase 2 US-based registered diagnostic medical sonographer 5 midwives and 1 medical assistant, selected after Phase 1 for demonstration of ultrasound aptitude 2 weeks Didactics: Focus on fetal biometry (CRL, BPD, FLb), appropriate landmark identification, adequate image magnification, correct caliper placement
Hands-on: Fetal biometry all trimesters
Phase 3 US-based maternal-fetal medicine fellows 4 midwives selected after Phase 2 for aptitude and interest in ultrasound plus anticipated availability for trial duration 3 months Hands-on: Fetal biometry <20 weeks gestation; practice scanning in 1000 subjects enrolled into separate maternal child health study
Phase 4 Trial obstetrician-perinatologist 4 study sonographers trained in Phase 3 6 months Hands-on: Image acquisition of pilot GRAPHS participants; image review and written feedback by study obstetrician-perinatologist

aGRAPHS: Ghana Randomized Air Pollution Health Study

bCRL: crown-rump length; BPD: biparietal diameter; FL: femur length