• Lori A Stolz, Krithika M Muruganandan, Mark C Bisanzo, Mugisha J Sebikali, Bradley A Dreifuss, Heather S Hammerstedt, Sara W Nelson, Irene Nayabale, Srikar Adhikari, and Sachita P Shah.
• The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
• Trop. Med. Int. Health. 2015 Aug 1;20(8):1067-72.

ObjectiveTo describe the outcomes and curriculum components of an educational programme to train non-physician clinicians working in a rural, Ugandan emergency department in the use of POC ultrasound.MethodsThe use of point-of-care ultrasound was taught to emergency care providers through lectures, bedsides teaching and hands-on practical sessions. Lectures were tailored to care providers' knowledge base and available therapeutic means. Every ultrasound examination performed by these providers was recorded over 4.5 years. Findings of these examinations were categorised as positive, negative, indeterminate or procedural. Other radiologic studies ordered over this same time period were also recorded.ResultsA total of 22,639 patients were evaluated in the emergency department by emergency care providers, and 2185 point-of-care ultrasound examinations were performed on 1886 patients. Most commonly used were the focused assessment with sonography in trauma examination (53.3%) and echocardiography (16.4%). Point-of-care ultrasound studies were performed more frequently than radiology department-performed studies. Positive findings were documented in 46% of all examinations.ConclusionsWe describe a novel curriculum for point-of-care ultrasound education of non-physician emergency practitioners in a resource-limited setting. These non-physician clinicians integrated ultrasound into clinical practice and utilised this imaging modality more frequently than traditional radiology department imaging with a large proportion of positive findings.© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

29 keywords...

hide…