Continuing the ultrasound credentialing conversation

Abstract

While the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) encourages all emergency physicians to be competent in at least the five core areas of emergency ultrasound (US), departmental training in most hospitals does woefully little to prepare most ACEM members to attain these competencies. While full day courses are a common method of mandatory and discretionary in-service training, that method has not been adopted for US training. We propose the development of full day courses for each of the five core competencies, taught by accredited US instructors and with emphasis on hands-on training. These courses alone will not produce fully competent US users but will provide a solid foundation for further training.

Emergency medicine trainees' perceived barriers to training and credentialing in point‐of‐care ultrasound: A cross‐sectional study

“…Many Australasian EDs are now developing internal POCUS training courses in line with ACEM guidelines for trainees, although these are not yet widespread and may still require participants to attend in their own time. [20][21][22] Another identified common barrier to POCUS training and credentialing was time limitation. The issue of time constraints is not unique to Australia, with EM trainees internationally also encountering this barrier to POCUS credentialing.…”

“…Whilst many Australian EDs have a special skill programme for ultrasound, this is generally limited to 2–4 trainees per year, making it necessary to consider having a vehicle for more widespread training and credentialing. Many Australasian EDs are now developing internal POCUS training courses in line with ACEM guidelines for trainees, although these are not yet widespread and may still require participants to attend in their own time 20–22 …”

Credentialing of emergency medicine trainees in point‐of‐care ultrasound: An effective, efficient and enjoyable model

“…There is an implicit expectation that ACEM trainees have access to expert instruction that facilitates PoCUS credentialing 9 . However, it is unlikely that currently available PoCUS training programmes can accommodate the credentialing needs of the majority of ACEM members 10 . While ACEM is not a credentialing body, it recommends what constitutes a credentialing programme 6 .…”

“…Instituting credentialing programmes in smaller and non‐metropolitan areas may be challenging because of resource and staffing deficiencies 14,24,28 . Even some larger centres may not have sufficient numbers of staff qualified in PoCUS to sustain a programme 10 . The FSH ED model is scalable for adoption in EDs with different patient and staffing demographics.…”