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A Survey of Ultrasound Milestone Incorporation Into Emergency Medicine Training Programs
Author(s) -
Smalley Courtney M.,
Dorey Alyrene,
Thiessen Molly,
Kendall John L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of ultrasound in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1550-9613
pISSN - 0278-4297
DOI - 10.7863/ultra.15.09012
Subject(s) - milestone , medicine , context (archaeology) , descriptive statistics , medical education , emergency ultrasound , family medicine , emergency department , nursing , history , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , biology
Objectives With the introduction of the Emergency Medicine Milestone Project in 2013, residencies now assess emergency ultrasound (US) skills at regular intervals. However, it is unclear how programs are implementing the emergency US milestones and assessing competency. With the use of the milestone tool, a survey was distributed to emergency US educators to determine when programs are providing emergency US education, when residents are expected to attain competency, and whether the milestones reflect their expectations of trainees. Methods We conducted a prospective cross‐sectional survey study distributed electronically to designated emergency US experts at 169 programs. Participants were queried on education and competency evaluation within the context of the milestones by designating a postgraduate year when the 5 milestone levels were taught and competency was expected. Survey findings were reported as percentages of total respondents from descriptive statistics. Results Responses were received from 53% of programs, and 99% were familiar with the milestones. Most programs provide level 1 (88%) and 2 (85%) instruction during postgraduate year 1. Most programs expect level 1 competency before residency (61%) and expect mastery of level 2 by the end of postgraduate year 1 (60%). Sixty‐two percent believe the milestones do not accurately reflect their expectations, citing insufficient minimum scan numbers, lack of specificity, and unattainable level 5 requirements. Conclusions There is substantial variability in the frequency and methods of competency evaluation using the emergency US milestones. However, most responders agree that residents should obtain level 2 competency by postgraduate year 1. Variation exists regarding what year and what skills define level 3 or greater competency.