Abstract
Many low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) are facing an epidemiological transition and Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) may help better manage some of the new challenges it entails. Although POCUS has already been shown to improve care in LMICs, the overall quality of evidence remains low. This is largely explained by the absence of needs assessment prior to POCUS implementation and by the challenges that arise when measuring significant outcomes in small, non-academic centers in LMICs.
This project aims to remotely implement a POCUS curriculum in the University Hospital of Gondar in Northern Ethiopia and assess both its effectiveness and impact on patient care. To our knowledge, remote delivery of a POCUS curriculum in LMICs has never been done. This project has three phases: i) Conduction of a comprehensive needs-assessment, ii) Development of a POCUS curriculum, iii) Evaluation of the curriculum
The needs-assessment was completed, and it identified the core elements needed for our program and its delivery. Our intervention aims to fill the gaps that were highlighted in the needs-assessment and to meet the demands of our target institution, its physicians and its patients. Our curriculum focuses on training the key stakeholders; therefore, our population will consist of second year residents and internal medicine faculty members. Our curriculum is directed towards POCUS evaluation of the heart, lungs, kidneys, volume status and procedures. The curriculum will be evaluated using repeated written tests and simulations, requesting regular mandatory image upload from the participants and gathering POCUS related data via a specially designed POCUS station.
