• Tracy Morton, Daniel J Kim, Tracey Deleeuw, Jason Curran, Paul Olszynski, and Virginia W Robinson.
• Family physician at the Haida Gwaii Health Centre in British Columbia and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia.
• Can Fam Physician. 2024 Feb 1; 70 (2): 109116109-116.

ObjectiveTo determine the scale and scope of use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in rural British Columbia (BC).DesignOnline survey.SettingRural BC.ParticipantsPhysicians practising in rural BC communities.Main Outcome MeasuresPractitioner demographic and practice characteristics, locations and frequency of POCUS use, POCUS education and training, and practitioner attitudes about and barriers to POCUS use.ResultsTwo hundred twenty-seven surveys were completed in fall 2021, corresponding to a response rate of 11.9% of all rural practitioners in BC. A total of 52.1% of respondents worked in communities with less than 10,000 people, while 24.9% had practices with relatively large proportions of Indigenous patients (more than 20% of the practice population). Respondents reported ease of access to local POCUS devices, with use highest in emergency departments (87.2%) followed by ambulatory care clinic (54.7%) and inpatient (50.3%) settings. Use of POCUS influenced clinical decision making in half the occasions in which it was employed, including a range of diagnostic and procedural applications. Barriers to use included lack of training, limited time to perform POCUS scans, and absence of image review or consultative support. Needed support for POCUS identified by respondents included real-time image acquisition advice and funding for both device acquisition and training. Recommendations for including POCUS training in undergraduate and residency education were strongly supported.ConclusionUse of POCUS in BC is expanding in frequency, scope, and scale in practices serving rural areas and in rural communities with large Indigenous populations, with practitioners reporting important improvements in clinical care as a result. Future research could help improve systemic support for POCUS use, guide needed curriculum changes in medical school and postgraduate training, and be used to inform continuing professional development needs.Copyright © 2024 the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

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