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Having an ultrasound examination to check the health of a mother’s unborn child in the womb or to diagnose a patient’s gastrointestinal problem has become a routine occurrence in the United States.

But in the poor Asian country of Mongolia, being able to have such an exam is a rarity, and being able to find a doctor who can operate an ultrasound device is even rarer, Mongolian physicians say.

“Of the 6,000 doctors in Mongolia, 300 are radiologists, and only 100 of those can perform an ultrasound, ’’ said Dr. Sonin Sodov, the first physician in Mongolia to learn how to use ultrasound. “We also have very few machines. Ultrasound, in fact, was nonexistent in our country 10 years ago.”

Back then Dr. Sonin, a surgeon with the Medical University Hospital in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, learned about using ultrasound from a textbook written by Barry Goldberg, M.D., professor of Radiology, Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Goldberg, director of the Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, is known by physicians worldwide for his work in ultrasound research.

“I learned from this book and then taught others in my country,’’ Dr. Sonin said.

Now he and his colleague and student, Dr. Dondog Enhkbahr, also of the Medical University Hospital in Mongolia have traveled from their native land to Jefferson to get advanced ultrasound training from Dr. Goldberg first-hand and take that knowledge back home to impart to other physicians there. This is the first time, as far as anyone is aware, that any physicians from Mongolia have come to Jefferson or this part of the United States for training, although the ultrasound institute has provided training to physicians from other foreign lands, including Russia.

“Ultrasound is very helpful in the every day work of surgeons,’’ Dr. Sonin said, explaining why he took up the specialty.

Drs. Sonin and Dondog, who are residing in the Jefferson Medical College dormitory, are in Philadelphia until Sept. 29, working under a three-month diagnostic ultrasound grant from the Open Society Institute.

The Open Society Institute is an international, private operating and grantmaking foundation that seeks to promote the development of open society around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform,and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and often controversial issues. Created and funded by Hungarian philanthropist George Soros, the Open Society is part of the Soros foundations network, which consists of autonomous nonprofit organizations operating in 31 countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Central Eurasia, South Africa, Haiti, Guatemala, and the United States.

The Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute coordinates the education and research programs of the department of radiology's division of diagnostic ultrasound. Through the international reputation of the division and its director, the Institute promotes stronger ties with healthcare facilities and organizations around the world that share an interest in diagnostic ultrasound. This Institute has the nation's most diverse ultrasound education programs and facilities, with which it conducts highly respected courses and offers visiting fellowships, among other activities. The Institute's large research staff conducts a broad spectrum of basic and clinical projects in ultrasonography.