A pilot survey on an understanding of point of care bedside ultrasound (POCUS) among medical doctors in internal medicine: Exposure, perceptions, interest and barriers to training

Introduction: Clinical bedside point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is an important adjunct to history and physical examination. The objective of this pilot survey is to assess the level of exposure, perceptions, interest levels and possible barriers toward training of POCUS in internal medicine. Methods: In October 2015, all medical doctors who were working in the Singapore General Hospital Internal Medicine Department were invited to complete a hard-copy printed 27-question Likert-scale survey. Results: A total of 124 medical doctors participated in the survey (response rate 82.1%). The proportions of participants who have heard, witnessed, and performed POCUS were 65.6% (N = 82), 71.2% (N = 89) and 41.6% (N = 52), respectively. POCUS was rated highly on usefulness in the practice of internal medicine (M = 8.74; SD = 1.34). The top three POCUS skills that doctors would like to acquire would be (1) procedural guidance POCUS (70.8%); (2) point-of-care cardiac ultrasound (69%) and (3) lung ultrasound 58.4% (based on percentage ranked first through third). The sample mean of interest in undergoing further training in POCUS is 8.91 (SD = 1.27) (0 = not interested, 10 = very interested). The top three barriers identified were (1) lack of an ultrasound machine (M = 7.98 SD = 2.28); (2) cost of an ultrasound machine (M = 7.79 SD = 2.19) and (3) lack of a formal training curriculum (M = 7.25 SD = 2.08) (0 = not a barrier at all, 10 = severe barrier). Conclusions: There is a high level of exposure and interest in POCUS. Doctors perceived bedside POCUS as very useful in the practice of internal medicine. A lack of machine and formal curriculum impedes development of a training program. This pilot survey may serve as a basic needs assessment to an implementation of an internal medicine POCUS training curriculum.