Perception of an Introductory Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course for Thai Medical Students on Emergency Medicine Rotation

Alissara Vanichkulbodee; Pholaphat Charles Inboriboon; Andrew H Balk; Jiraporn Sri-On

doi:10.2147/OAEM.S316730

Perception of an Introductory Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course for Thai Medical Students on Emergency Medicine Rotation

Open Access Emerg Med. 2021 Jul 5:13:291-298. doi: 10.2147/OAEM.S316730. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Alissara Vanichkulbodee^{1

2}, Pholaphat Charles Inboriboon³, Andrew H Balk², Jiraporn Sri-On¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, Bangkok, Thailand.
² Department of Emergency Medicine, Truman Medical Center, University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO, USA.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is increasingly utilized in emergency departments (EDs) throughout Thailand. Although emergency medicine (EM) residents are trained in POCUS, Thai medical students receive limited training. An introductory POCUS course was implemented for medical students to prepare them for internships.

Objective: This study described the perception and use of POCUS by graduates of an introductory POCUS course.

Materials and methods: Medical students who completed the POCUS course were surveyed during their intern year from 2012 to 2015. The survey collected demographic characteristics. The Likert Scale was used to assess POCUS practice patterns and perceptions of the course.

Results: There were 230 respondents (98% response rate). All thought that POCUS was important. Furthermore, 96% of respondents felt that the POCUS course meaningfully impacted their ability to deliver care. POCUS use was greatest for obstetrics/gynecology and trauma cases. Over half of respondents (55.2%) felt very confident with using extended-Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma. Most respondents (81.8%) were positively impacted by the course, and 61.7% were satisfied with the scope of the course. Recommendations for improvement included increasing the course length, the content, and the hands-on time for POCUS practice.

Conclusion: Graduates positively perceived the course and felt it dramatically impacted their clinical practice as novice physicians. An introductory POCUS course should be incorporated into the medical school curriculum to prepare graduates for practice. Future goals include increasing the scope of POCUS practice to help guide interns and residents in emergency patient care such as lung ultrasound in COVID-19 or pneumonia patients and studying the impact this course has on patient outcomes.

Keywords: eFAST; intern; medical education; point-of-care ultrasound.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Vajira Hospital Research Foundation Grant for Research Development, grant number CAO 80/2559. The funder had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.