Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) Low-Contact Curriculum Using Near-Peer Training and Remote Supervision

Plain-language summary

Ultrasonography is a non-invasive, minimal-radiation tool for clinical diagnosis. Relevant clinical protocols have been developed. Recently, as the technology of ultrasonography progresses, small and portable ultrasound machines become available. The use of ultrasonography has gradually moved from the examination laboratories to the bedside. With this revolution, ultrasonography produces a tremendous paradigm shift in the diagnostic process at the bedside by clinicians. Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) focuses on an acute problem that a patient has, trying to simplify the items of examination, shorten the time required for examination, but maximize the efficiency and accessibility. Unlike traditional ultrasound which has high learning threshold, PoCUS has become a feasible curriculum for undergraduate medical students and also post-graduate residents. However, the needs assessment, curriculum design, assessment tools of PoCUS education for medical students are scarcely reported. And the effectiveness of using new teaching skills, such as E-learning, standardized patient simulation, and high-fidelity simulators, in teaching PoCUS remains unanswered. There is also no established assessment tool for learning PoCUS in undergraduate medical education. The COVID-19 pandemic also challenges medical education, including the training of PoCUS. As a skill-based curriculum, a pure E-learning is not feasible. Therefore, an important issue is to find a way to lower the physical contact during the PoCUS training. To date, scarce study has focused on the contact time and contact density of a skill-based curriculum. The main purpose of this study is establishing a low-contact PoCUS curriculum, with incorporation of small group teaching, near-peer training (NPT) design, and remote supervision (RS). It is also mandatory to make sure the effectiveness of this new curriculum, through a competency-based assessment such as entrustable professional activity (EPA). In the second year of the project, students will be randomized into two groups, including NPT+ RS group and traditional groups, to compare the amount and intensity of contact during curriculum and the effectiveness of training through objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) between two groups.

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