From Ward to Clinic: A Longitudinal Ambulatory-Centric POCUS Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents

In the United States, less than 10% of primary care physicians have incorporated point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into their daily practice, despite its proven benefits in aiding the completion of procedures, lowering costs, decreasing emergency department visits, and reducing the need for further imaging. A key contributor to this underutilization is the lack of standardized outpatient-specific curricula during internal medicine residency. According to the 2020 APDIM survey, only 17% of POCUS education occurred in outpatient settings. An innovative way to target this gap is with a three-year ambulatory-centric POCUS curriculum. During this workshop, presenters will review the three-year longitudinal curriculum, discuss sample session learning objectives and methodologies, review data from the initial year's implementation in our program, and finally delve into strategies for sustaining skill retention throughout the years. Presenters will also offer a small group breakout session in which participants will share ideas and best practices for incorporating POCUS into resident ambulatory experience. In the small group, participants will also discuss and brainstorm a plan to incorporate an ambulatory POCUS curriculum at their respective institutions. This session offers a pragmatic approach to equipping internal medicine residents with essential POCUS skills and empowering them to confidently navigate outpatient care with the aid of POCUS, ultimately fostering enhanced diagnostic training and patient care in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.