A core competency framework for point-of-care ultrasound education: Guidelines for curriculum development

The clinical utility of diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has rapidly grown across medical specialties, prompting many medical schools to develop and implement POCUS curricula. However, teaching ultrasound image acquisition is challenging as it requires psychomotor skills, hand-eye coordination, and hand stability; leading to a higher cognitive load. Despite this, POCUS curricula have largely focused on other aspects, such as identifying clinically relevant POCUS examinations. To address this gap, the authors of this article developed a competency-EPA matrix framework for POCUS education that focuses on image acquisition. This framework collates fundamental ultrasound image acquisition skills as core competencies and maps the utility of each competency across multiple different POCUS examinations. The competency-EPA matrix framework can serve as a scaffold for teaching institutions to build POCUS curricula that prioritize fundamental image acquisition skills and support competency-based education.