Pragmatic assessment of resident performed cardiac point of care ultrasound using a validated scoring metric

BACKGROUND: Cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly utilized by trainees across various specialties and can rapidly assess the cardiac status of unstable patients. However, the quality of trainee performed cardiac examinations has been reported only in controlled studies. In this study we aimed to assess the quality of all cardiac POCUS performed by internal medicine trainees at a major academic medical center over a three-year period. METHODS: 256 studies were included and were graded by experts blinded to postgraduate year (PGY) using a previously validated scoring metric. RESULTS: We found significant improvement in overall quality of resident performed cardiac POCUS from PGY 1 to 3 (10.8, 10.2, 13.2, p = 0.012). Assessment of left ventricular function was possible in 82% of studies and increased from PGY 1 to PGY 3 (77%, 76%, 88%, p = 0.025). Similar trends were seen in the assessment of the pericardial space (67%, 71%, 84%, p = 0.012). Images sufficient for right ventricular and volume status assessment were less commonly found (65%, 60%, 75% and 60%, 49%, 57%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a real world experience of the level of diagnostic accuracy that can be expected from IM trainees with minimal hands-on supervision.