Article Categories: Research

Measurement of the Applicability of Abdominal Point-of-Care Ultrasound to the Practice of Medicine in Saudi Arabia and the Current Skill Gaps

Rajkumar Rajendram, FRCP Lond; and Mamdouh Souleymane, MD; Naveed Mahmood, FRCP Edin; Rakan Sambas, MD; Yousuf M.S. Kharal, MD – Renal, gastrointestinal, and hepatic pathology, and the resources available for their management vary internationally. Whilst abdominal point-of-care ultrasound (APOCUS) should enhance management, uptake by physicians, worldwide, has been poor. So, the aim of this study was to explore the applicability of APOCUS to medical practice in Saudi Arabia, residents’ current ability to perform APOCUS, and the skill gaps.

Point of Care Ultrasound First: An Opportunity to Improve Efficiency for Uncomplicated Pregnancy in the Emergency Department

Sara Urquhart, MA; Kendall Stevens, BS; Mariah Barnes, MD; Matthew Flannigan, DO – Research suggests emergency providers using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) to confirm an uncomplicated intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) can decrease emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) compared to a radiology department ultrasound (RADUS). The objective of this study was to compare the time to diagnosis and LOS between POCUS and RADUS patients.

Evaluation of Diagnostic Imaging Capacity and the Role for Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) within the Zanzibar Health System

Abiola A. Fasina MD, MSHP, DTM&H; Anthony J. Dean MD; Nova L. Panebianco MD, PMH; Frances S. Shofer PhD; Omar Ali MSEE, MSED; Mwajuma Yahya BSc; Salim Ismail MMED; Patricia C. Henwood MD – The Zanzibar Ministry of Health identified access to ultrasound (US) as a system priority due to limited diagnostic imaging capacity and consequent impact on patient care and requested a needs assessment in this regard. As a result, the objective of this study was to assess diagnostic imaging capacity focusing on ultrasound in Zanzibar, including health care providers’ (HCPs) current training, use, and barriers to implementation.

Developing and Evaluating a Remote Quality Assurance System for Point-of-Care Ultrasound for an Internal Medicine Residency Global Health Track

Steven Fox, MD; Michelle Fleshner, MD MPH; Collin Flanagan, DO; Thomas Robertson, MD; Ayako Wendy Fujita, MD; Divya Bhamidipati, MD; Abdulrahman Sindi, MD; Raghunandan Purushothaman, MD; Thuy Bui, MD – A quality assurance system is vital when using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) to ensure safe and effective ultrasound use. There are many barriers to implementing a quality assurance system including need for costly software, faculty time, and extra work to log images.

The Hybrid POCUS-to-Echo Feasibility Study: Provision of Expedited Cardiac Point of Care Ultrasound Service (e-POCUS) by the Echocardiography Lab

Hanane Benbarkat, MD; Tony Sanfilippo, MD; Jian Zhang, RDCS; Amer M. Johri, MD MSc FRCPC FASE – Comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography (CTE) provides information vital to the care of acutely ill and unstable patients, but may not be readily available. Cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is well suited to providing key information at the bedside to expedite decision making. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of expedited-POCUS (e-POCUS) provided by the echo lab for internal medicine, cardiology and intensive care services.

The Master Clinician’s Elective: Integrating Evidence-Based Physical Examination and Point of Care Ultrasonography in Modern Clinical Medicine

Maria Gabriela Frank MD; Cason Pierce MD; Noelle Northcutt MD; Joseph Walker Keach MD; Gerard Salame MD; Rebecca Allyn MD – Many internal medicine residency programs have incorporated ultrasonography into their curriculum; however, its integration with physical examination skills teaching at a graduate medical level is scarce. The program’s aim is to create a reproducible elective that combines physical exam and bedside ultrasound as a method for augmenting residents’ knowledge and competence in these techniques with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.

Demonstration of a Longitudinal Medical Education Model (LMEM) Model to Teach Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Resource-Limited Settings

Michael Yao; Lauren Uhr; George Daghlian; Junedh M. Amrute; Ramya Deshpande; Benji Mathews, MD; Sanjay A. Patel, MD; Ricardo Henri, MD; Gigi Liu, MD; Kreegan Reierson, MD; Gordon Johnson, MD –
Short-term medical missions prevail as the most common form of international medical volunteerism, but they are ill-suited for medical education and training local providers in resource-limited settings. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a longitudinal educational program in training clinicians how to perform point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in resource-limited clinics. Design: A retrospective study of a four-month POCUS training program was conducted with clinicians from a rural hospital in Haiti. The model included one-on-one, in-person POCUS teaching sessions by volunteer instructors from the United States and Europe. The Haitian trainees were assessed at the start of the program and at its conclusion by a direct objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), administered by the visiting instructors, with similar pre- and post- program ultrasound competency assessments.

Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to the use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Clinicians in Oregon

by Camellia Dalai; Renee K. Dversdal –
The use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) to provide clinical data beyond the history and physical examination is a relatively new practice for primary care providers and hospitalists. It takes many hours of dedicated ultrasound (US) training and practice to achieve POCUS proficiency; further, perceptions and attitudes of clinicians play a major role in adopting POCUS into daily clinical repertoire.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training for Family Medicine Residents: Examining the outcomes and feasibility of a pilot ultrasound curriculum

by Gordon Yao; Taeyoung Peter Hong; Philip Lee; Joseph Newbigging; Brent Wolfrom –
It is estimated that 50% of deaths due to abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) could be prevented by a national screening program. Thanks to technological ad­vancements and cost reductions, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in family medicine (FM) is becoming more prev­alent [4, 5]. Despite the potential utility of POCUS in FM, of 224 FM residency programs surveyed, only 21% had developed a curriculum.

Minding the Gap(s): Hospitalists Experience Aspirational, Safety, and Knowledge Deficits That Prevent Them From Practicing POCUS

by Stephanie Conner; David Chia; Farhan Lalani; Meghan O’Brien; James Anstey; Nima Afshar; Trevor Jensen –
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has been a mainstay of clinical decision-making in the intensive care unit and emergency department for more than a decade, but adoption into hospital medicine has lagged behind. Recently, internal medicine residency programs have started to develop POCUS curricula for trainees, though concurrent hospitalist training programs have been limited to date, with little consensus on what hospitalist-oriented curricula should entail. As such, there is wide variability amongst hospitalists with respect to utilization of, training in, and proficiency in POCUS.