Blended Learning Curriculum for Training Faculty Physicians Performing the Extended Focused Assessment With Sonography in Trauma (eFAST)

Objective In 2016, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) published policy statements regarding the application, credentialing, and maintenance of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) skills. While the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) now necessitates inclusion of ultrasound teaching in emergency medicine residency, this was not the case prior to 2012. Faculty who were not trained with a formal residency ultrasound curriculum must now maintain their skills through a practice-based pathway. This project was primarily aimed at creating a blended learning curriculum to refresh faculty clinical skills by increasing confidence in both the acquisition and interpretation of the extended Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (eFAST) exam. Secondary aims included evaluating participant interest in the utilization of this application and assessing attitudes toward this asynchronous curriculum. Methods Participating emergency medicine faculty were asked to engage in the curriculum, which comprised both asynchronous online material and a hands-on scanning session with ultrasound-trained faculty over a six-week period. Pre- and post-surveys were administered to gauge physician opinions regarding the utilization of ultrasound in the management of trauma patients and their confidence in acquiring and interpreting standard eFAST exam views. Pre- and post-survey responses were collected, and mean values were calculated and compared via a paired two-tailed t-test with statistical significance established at a p-value < 0.05. Results After engaging with the curriculum, there was a statistically significant increase in confidence in obtaining all of the eFAST views and interpretation of all but the right upper quadrant (RUQ) view for all participants. Subanalysis demonstrated that participants greater than 10 years from graduation demonstrated a statistically significant increase in confidence in the acquisition and interpretation of more views as compared to their colleagues who graduated within the last 10 years. The curriculum was well-received, with 91.3% of participants reporting an increased likelihood of utilization of the eFAST exam in the medical management of their trauma patients and a 22.3% reduction in perceived barriers to the use of this exam after interventions of this research study. Finally, 96% of participants would be interested in similar training for other ultrasound applications. Conclusions We were able to demonstrate an effective model for increasing faculty confidence in the process of refreshing core ultrasound skills as well as increasing interest in the utilization of ultrasound in the management of trauma patients. This seemed to be reflected more significantly in those who are more than 10 years from graduating from an emergency medicine residency program.