A Victory for Humanity

by Richard Hoppmann

Imagine the impact on healthcare in this country and around the world if all healthcare providers were equipped with a diagnostic and patient-management tool with the extraordinary power of ultrasound. Access to care would be improved, especially in under-served areas, quality of care would be improved across virtually every area of medicine, patient safety would be improved almost overnight, and the cost of healthcare could be decreased if the tool were used wisely.

Horace Mann, the great American education reformer, said “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” What a victory for humanity it would be to improve healthcare for billions of people throughout the world. As educators and practitioners of ultrasound, we are in a position to win a huge victory for humanity if we collectively embrace the “victory goal” of improved healthcare for all with ultrasound.

I believe the place to start in the quest for this victory for humanity is with education. There are many we must educate about ultrasound—healthcare practitioners of virtually every specialty and at every level of healthcare provision and training; those who teach healthcare providers; those who make decisions concerning healthcare education, practice, financing, and regulations; biomedical researchers and the healthcare industry; and those who will ultimately be the greatest beneficiaries of every practitioner competently using ultrasound: patients and their families.

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