TY - JOUR
T1 - Continuing professional development for primary care physicians
T2 - a pre-post study on lung point-of-care ultrasound curriculum
AU - Shitrit, Itamar Ben
AU - Shmueli, Moshe
AU - Ilan, Karny
AU - Karni, Ofri
AU - Hasidim, Ariel Avraham
AU - Banar, Mey Tal
AU - Goldstein, Yoav
AU - Wacht, Oren
AU - Fuchs, Lior
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/12/1
Y1 - 2024/12/1
N2 - Background: Point-of-care ultrasound is rapidly gaining traction in clinical practice, including primary care. Yet, logistical challenges and geographical isolation hinder skill acquisition. Concurrently, an evidentiary gap exists concerning such guidance's effectiveness and optimal implementation in these settings. Methods: We developed a lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum for primary care physicians in a rural, medically underserved region of the south of Israel. The course included recorded lectures, pre-course assessments, hands-on training, post-workshop lectures, and individual practice. To evaluate our course, we measured learning outcomes and physicians’ proficiency in different lung POCUS domains using hands-on technique assessment and gathered feedback on the course with a multi-modal perception approach: an original written pre- and post-perception and usage questionnaire. Results: Fifty primary care physicians (PCPs) showed significant improvement in hands-on skills, increasing from 6 to 76% proficiency (p < 0.001), and in identifying normal versus abnormal views, improving from 54 to 74% accuracy (p < 0.001). Ten weeks after training, primary care physicians reported greater comfort using lung ultrasound, rising from 10 to 54% (p < 0.001), and improved grasp of its potential and limits, increasing from 27.5% to 84% (p < 0.001). Weekly usage increased from none to 50%, and the number of primary care physicians not using at all decreased from 72 to 26% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A two-day focused in-person and remote self-learning lung-POCUS training significantly improved primary care physicians' lung ultrasound skills, comfort, and implementation.
AB - Background: Point-of-care ultrasound is rapidly gaining traction in clinical practice, including primary care. Yet, logistical challenges and geographical isolation hinder skill acquisition. Concurrently, an evidentiary gap exists concerning such guidance's effectiveness and optimal implementation in these settings. Methods: We developed a lung point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum for primary care physicians in a rural, medically underserved region of the south of Israel. The course included recorded lectures, pre-course assessments, hands-on training, post-workshop lectures, and individual practice. To evaluate our course, we measured learning outcomes and physicians’ proficiency in different lung POCUS domains using hands-on technique assessment and gathered feedback on the course with a multi-modal perception approach: an original written pre- and post-perception and usage questionnaire. Results: Fifty primary care physicians (PCPs) showed significant improvement in hands-on skills, increasing from 6 to 76% proficiency (p < 0.001), and in identifying normal versus abnormal views, improving from 54 to 74% accuracy (p < 0.001). Ten weeks after training, primary care physicians reported greater comfort using lung ultrasound, rising from 10 to 54% (p < 0.001), and improved grasp of its potential and limits, increasing from 27.5% to 84% (p < 0.001). Weekly usage increased from none to 50%, and the number of primary care physicians not using at all decreased from 72 to 26% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A two-day focused in-person and remote self-learning lung-POCUS training significantly improved primary care physicians' lung ultrasound skills, comfort, and implementation.
KW - Continuing professional development
KW - Lung ultrasound
KW - Point-of-care ultrasound
KW - Primary care physicians
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85203458139&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12909-024-05985-z
DO - 10.1186/s12909-024-05985-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 39256690
AN - SCOPUS:85203458139
SN - 1472-6920
VL - 24
JO - BMC Medical Education
JF - BMC Medical Education
IS - 1
M1 - 983
ER -