Undergraduate POCUS teaching: A survey of prevalence and attitudes in the UK
By Catriona Farrell, Liverpool University
Aim
The advent of hand-held ultrasound devices has caused a surge of interest in POCUS. Until now, POCUS in the UK has principally been taught in the postgraduate setting. We investigated use of, and attitudes to undergraduate POCUS teaching in the UK.
Method
Google survey distributed within a network of undergraduate clinical skills leads at 36 UK medical schools via email over a 10 week period in 2023.
Findings
17/36 medical schools responded (47%). 9/17 (52%) currently teach POCUS, 4/8 institutions started teaching POCUS in 2022. Total time spent on POCUS teaching is 5-6 hours in two institutions, 3-4 hours in three institutions, and 2 hours in three institutions. Teaching includes hands-on sessions, lectures, and demonstrations. Topics include vascular access (7/9), FAST (5/9), echocardiography (4/9), abdominal aortic aneurysm (4/9), pneumothorax (3/9), renal (3/9), ascites (2/9), lung (2/9), bladder (1/9), and pleural effusions (1/9). Teaching is delivered by radiologists, anaesthetists, emergency, acute and critical care physicians, cardiologists, and non-medical clinical skills staff. Only two medical schools formally assess POCUS, one with a practical scanning assessment. Observation of POCUS in a clinical context was reported by one institution only.
14/17 (82%) of respondents are interested in developing undergraduate POCUS teaching. Barriers include lack of experienced teachers (13/17), time constraints (12/17), lack of a formal curriculum (10/17), limited access to equipment (10/17). 10/17 respondents regard POCUS skills as very beneficial to students’ future careers. 13/17 view POCUS as very integral to future clinical practice. 3/8 institutions who don’t currently teach POCUS have plans to.
Conclusion
Although POCUS teaching to undergraduate medical students is increasing in the UK, provision is patchy, without consistency of topics taught. Lack of time, standardised curriculum, resources, and skilled teachers are all barriers. It is thought likely that POCUS will form part of the clinical practice of tomorrow’s doctors. POCUS teaching at medical schools is markedly time-limited, and unlikely to result in competence.