The unmet demand for point-of-care ultrasound among general pediatricians: a cross-sectional survey

Background Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a noninvasive bedside tool with many pediatric applications but is not currently a formal part of pediatric training and practice. Formal surveys of general pediatricians regarding POCUS training are lacking. We aimed to quantify the baseline ultrasound experience and training needs of general pediatricians and pediatric residents across different practice settings. Methods In 2020, we sent an online survey to 485 current faculty, residents, and graduates from an urban pediatric academic medical center in Northern California. Pediatric subspecialists were excluded. Survey questions about baseline experience, comfort, and perceived usefulness of 20 common POCUS applications were developed by two POCUS experts using existing literature. Chi-squared analysis was used to compare residents versus attendings and to compare attendings practicing in inpatient versus outpatient versus mixed settings. Results Response rate was 20% (98/485). Compared to attendings (n = 73), residents (n = 25) endorsed more exposure to POCUS in medical school (32% vs 5%, p = 0.003) and residency (12% vs 5%, p = 0.003). Respondents endorsed low comfort with POCUS (mean 1.3 out of 5 on Likert scale). Of 20 procedural and diagnostic applications, respondents identified abscess drainage, bladder catheterization, soft tissue, neck, advanced abdominal, and constipation as most useful. Overall, 50% of pediatricians (and 70% of pediatric residents) responded that there were opportunities to use POCUS multiple times a week or more in their clinical practice. Conclusions There is an unmet demand for POCUS training among general pediatricians and trainees in our study. Although the majority of respondents were not POCUS users, our results could guide future efforts to study the role of POCUS in general pediatrics and develop pediatric curricula.