Can Untrained Patients Perform Their Own Skin and Soft Tissue Ultrasound Examination by Teleguidance?

This pilot study aims to determine if patients untrained in performing ultrasound can self-scan to obtain images under remote clinician teleguidance during a simulated telehealth encounter. This study also seeks to describe the patients' comfort level and barriers to performing an ultrasound examination on themselves using a handheld ultrasound device. This was a single center prospective observational cohort study conducted over a 4-month period in 2021.

A consensus list of ultrasound competencies for graduating emergency medicine residents.

Objectives: Emergency ultrasound (EUS) is a critical component of emergency medicine (EM) resident education. Currently, there is no consensus list of competencies for EUS training, and graduating residents have varying levels of skill and comfort. The objective of this study was to define a widely accepted comprehensive list of EUS competencies for graduating EM residents through a modified Delphi method.

Development and Validation of a Point-of-Care-Ultrasound Image Quality Assessment Tool: The POCUS IQ Scale.

Objectives: We aimed to develop a standardized scoring tool to measure point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) image quality and to determine validity evidence for its use to assess lung ultrasound image quality.

Methods: The POCUS Image Quality (POCUS IQ) scale was developed by POCUS-trained physicians to assess sonographers' image acquisition skills by evaluating image quality for any POCUS application. The scale was piloted using lung images of healthy standardized patients acquired by three expert sonographers compared to three novices before and after training.

The Emergency Medicine Resident Retreat: Creating and Sustaining a Transformative and Reflective Experience.

Introduction  Burnout rates for emergency medicine residents are high. One intervention and initiative to enhance wellness and address burnout is the resident retreat. Retreats have multiple formats and are often designed with an emphasis on social events.

International consensus conference recommendations on ultrasound education for undergraduate medical students.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to provide expert consensus recommendations to establish a global ultrasound curriculum for undergraduate medical students.

Methods: 64 multi-disciplinary ultrasound experts from 16 countries, 50 multi-disciplinary ultrasound consultants, and 21 medical students and residents contributed to these recommendations. A modified Delphi consensus method was used that included a systematic literature search, evaluation of the quality of literature by the GRADE system, and the RAND appropriateness method for panel judgment and consensus decisions.

The effect of display size on ultrasound interpretation.

Objectives: Ultrasound (US) is an essential component of emergency department patient care. US machines have become smaller and more affordable. Handheld ultrasound (HUS) machines are even more portable and easy to use at the patient's bedside.

Development of a novel pediatric point-of-care ultrasound question bank using a modified Delphi process.

Background And Objectives: Measuring pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) fellow competency in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is important for ensuring adequate training and performance. Assessment may include direct observation, image review, quality assessment, and written examination. The purpose of this study was to develop a pediatric POCUS question bank that could subsequently be used as a POCUS assessment for graduating PEM fellows.

Konnyaku jelly: A quick preparation and cost effective ultrasound-guided IV phantom model.

Clinicians commonly place ultrasound-guided intravenous catheters in peripheral veins for the diagnostic and therapeutic treatments of patients. This procedural skill requires practice and static phantom models are a commonly used education tool. Several commercial models that simulate blood vessels within tissue are available; however, they can be expensive.

Gender Bias: Another Rising Curve to Flatten?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the upheaval it is causing may be leading to novel manifestations of the well-established mechanisms by which women have been marginalized in professional roles, robbing the field of the increased collective intelligence that exists when diverse perspectives are embraced. Unconscious bias, gendered expectations, and overt hostility minimize the contributions of women in academic medicine to the detriment of all. The current environment of heightened stress and new socially distant forms of communication may be exacerbating these well-recognized obstacles to women contributing to the field.

Preinvisible: An Early-Career Perspective on a Midcareer Phenomenon.

In this commentary, a female early-career academic physician reflects on her experiences with microinequities in the workplace. Using a recent publication describing the experience of midcareer academic women physicians as a launching point, the author discusses the experiences that early-career women in medicine commonly have. In training and early career, women are exposed to subtle barriers, aggressions, and inequities, which build over time.

A comparison of homemade vascular access ultrasound phantom models for peripheral intravenous catheter insertion.

Background: Ultrasound (U/S) guided peripheral IV catheter (PIV) placement is often needed after unsuccessful traditional IV attempts. Commercial U/S PIV training phantoms are expensive and difficult to alter. Non-commercial phantoms have been described; however, there has been no comparison of these models.