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| Photo Owned by Ashika Jain, MD |
Ultrasound Should be Integrated into Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum (5/30/2014)
Visit the Clinical Practice Statement page on the AAEM website.
Chair: Steven Rosenbaum, MD FAAEM
Authors: Lisa D Mills, MD FAAEM
Zachary Soucy, DO FAAEM
Reviewers: Ashley Bean, MD FAAEM
Jack Perkins, MD FAAEM
Reviewed and approved by the AAEM Board of Directors (5/30/2014).
Policy Statement:
It is the position of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine that ultrasound should be integrated into the core curriculum of undergraduate medical education.
Background:
Medical diagnostic ultrasound has been used by various specialties since the 1950s. Contemporary point of care ultrasound (POCUS) was first researched and utilized by emergency physicians in the mid 1980s. Emergency physicians have formally defined and pioneered POCUS over the past two decades. Research in a broad array of applications indicate improved patient care via procedural safety and success (11,13,17), improved diagnostic accuracy (20,21,22), decreased procedural pain (8), decrease time to critical interventions (11, 22), and decreased time to discharge (3). The practice of POCUS continues to grow. In the most recent decade there is an expanding role for POCUS across many specialties in medicine. As hospital wide ultrasound application has increased many healthcare institutions struggle to meet the growing educational needs of faculty and residents to obtain standardize ultrasound training. In addition, multiple specialties have POCUS fellowships and specialized POCUS training during other fellowships.
