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

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
• Physician Assistant (PA) Training

Background:

• Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly integrated into Physician Assistant (PA) curricula.
• Preceptor readiness to teach POCUS during clinical rotations remains a significant challenge.
• Understanding student POCUS practice opportunities is crucial for effective curriculum design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe PA students' self-reported opportunities for POCUS practice during rotations.
• To quantify the number of POCUS examinations completed by PA students on rotations.
• To identify specific rotations most amenable to POCUS training for PA students.

Main Methods:

• A survey assessed PA students' preceptors' willingness to allow POCUS practice.
• Students documented POCUS examinations performed during their rotations.
• Data on examination numbers were extracted from Butterfly Network software and analyzed.

Main Results:

• A 71.4% survey response rate was achieved.
• Highest self-reported POCUS practice opportunities were in Family Medicine, Cardiology, Hospital Internal Medicine (HIM), and Emergency Medicine (EM).
• Emergency Medicine (EM) and Hospital Internal Medicine (HIM) rotations showed a higher objective number of completed POCUS examinations.

Conclusions:

• EM and HIM rotations offer the greatest potential for translating POCUS practice opportunities into image acquisition.
• Cardiology rotations disproportionately focused on cardiac examinations compared to other organ systems.
• Rotation and application-specific data should guide PA programs in developing POCUS curricula.