A Novel Learner- and Patient-Oriented Needs Assessment for a Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum in Family Medicine

New Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of Family Medicine guidelines encourage training family medicine residents in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Prior studies have focused on the perceived needs of learners but did not assess patient or community need.

We performed a triangulated learner- and patient-oriented needs assessment to inform POCUS curriculum development within a family medicine residency. Our learner assessment consisted of a Likert scale survey of the perceived skill and importance of 36 POCUS modalities discussed in the 2016 American Academy of Family Physicians POCUS curriculum guidelines. Our patient-oriented needs assessment was collected through analysis of all family medicine practice (FMP) site imaging orders placed in 2023.

The learner survey demonstrated the highest skill gaps in POCUS training to be evaluation for hemothorax and evaluation for pleural effusion. FMP site imaging order analysis demonstrated that hepatobiliary and obstetrics/gynecology concerns were the most frequently answered by POCUS for patients seen at the FMP site.

POCUS is an important and underutilized diagnostic tool in family medicine. POCUS curricula in graduate medical education are vital to successful implementation of POCUS in primary care; however, needs assessment techniques used in prior studies differ from the patient and community needs in our study. We recommend the use of both needs assessment strategies for optimal POCUS training outcomes. Further research replicating this modality is necessary to determine the optimal needs assessment approach for POCUS in family medicine.