Point-of-Care Ultrasound on Clinical Rotations: Reported Opportunity and Objective Number of Examinations

Abstract

Introduction Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) inclusion in physician assistant (PA) program curricula is increasing. Research has shown that preceptors' readiness to teach POCUS on rotations is limited. The purpose of this research is to describe PA students' self-reported opportunity to practice POCUS on rotations, to quantify the number of POCUS examinations completed on rotations, and to analyze data to provide insights into which rotations might be most amendable to POCUS training for PA students. Methods Students were surveyed about their preceptors' willingness to allow the practice of POCUS on rotations. Students were required to complete POCUS examinations during rotations. The number of examinations performed was extracted from the Butterfly Network software and paired with the students' rotation information. Descriptive statistics were completed. Results A survey response rate of 71.4% was noted. The student reported opportunities to practice POCUS were the highest on Family Medicine, Cardiology, Hospital Internal Medicine (HIM), and Emergency Medicine (EM). Students completed 778 POCUS examinations on rotations. A higher objective number of examinations were completed on EM and HIM rotations. Discussion EM and HIM rotations afforded the most opportunity to convert the reported opportunity to practice POCUS to the objective act of obtaining POCUS images. Most rotations had proportionally similar number of POCUS examinations completed per organ system, however, Cardiology had a disproportionately higher number of cardiac examinations. This rotation and application-specific understanding of PA students' ability to obtain POCUS examinations on rotations should be used by PA programs while developing POCUS curriculum.