Background: Recently coined the “fifth pillar to the bedside physical exam” in a 2018 JAMA article, a growing number of physicians have started incorporating point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into their clinical assessments. Many medical schools have already started to integrate POCUS into their educational curriculum. With the emergence of more affordable handheld solutions, practicing physicians and trainees with widely varying levels of training and competency have access to personal ultrasound devices which they use in the clinical evaluation of their patients. A significant void exists in a critical mass of faculty needed to provide oversight of trainees in the appropriate integration and interpretation of POCUS at the bedside. Since most of our current faculty trained in a pre-POCUS era, hospitalists try to keep pace with the rapid growth and evolution of POCUS. Our faculty POCUS training program aims to fill this void by creating a longitudinal curriculum, with the goal of developing a consistent, core group of hospitalist faculty who become competent in the use of POCUS in the clinical setting.
Purpose: As an academic hospitalist division with over 100 faculty, we aim to train a critical mass of instructors needed to provide housestaff and medical student oversight in point-of-care ultrasound. We developed a longitudinal POCUS curriculum for hospitalist faculty with a goal of achieving competency. Through this curriculum we plan to fill the void of instructors needed to provide oversight of trainees within our undergraduate and graduate medical education programs.
Description: Hospitalists completed a two-day intensive POCUS course, participating in both large group didactic sessions and small group hands-on practical sessions. After the course, learners joined weekly rounds with an ultrasound instructor that combined didactics with group imaging sessions. Hospitalists are expected to make a portfolio of images they performed independently. These images are reviewed for quality assurance and feedback will be provided. If a participant completes their portfolio they are eligible to take a final knowledge and skills assessment which will evaluate competency.
Conclusions: Having a longitudinal training program will increase competency among the Hospitalist Division. Implementation of the faculty POCUS training curriculum will bridge a gap across the continuum of medical education – from undergraduate to graduate and continuing medical education.