A Point-of-care Ultrasound Education Curriculum for Pediatric Critical Care Medicine

Background: Diagnostic and procedural point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) change patient management with the potential to improve outcomes. Pediatric critical care medicine trainees have limited access to education and training opportunities in diagnostic POCUS in the pediatric ICU. A dearth of published pediatric ICU curricular resources restricts these educational opportunities.

Methods: A 7-week longitudinal curriculum including lectures, practical skills sessions, and knowledge assessment covering core modules including (1) machine operation, (2) vascular access, (3) non-vascular procedures, (4) cardiac imaging, (5) hemodynamic assessment, (6) pulmonary imaging, and (7) abdominal imaging, was disseminated to pediatric critical care trainees and faculty at a single tertiary care pediatric hospital.

Results: The knowledge of trainees and participating faculty in procedural and diagnostic POCUS improved after implementing the curriculum. Pre-test scores mean and standard deviation (59.30% ± 14.15%) improved significantly (75.60% ± 9.43%) for all learners (p < 0.001). The overall self-reported comfort in diagnostic and procedural ultrasound improved for all learners. 100% of the learners reported utilizing diagnostic POCUS in their clinical practice four months after disseminating the curriculum.

Discussion: We describe a single center's approach to POCUS education with improvement in knowledge, self-reported comfort, and attitudes towards procedural and diagnostic POCUS. The curricular resources for adaptation in a similar educational context are provided.