Integrating Point of Care Ultrasound into Nephrology Fellowship Training: Insights from a Pilot Program
Ann Young,
Benoit Imbeault,
Alberto Goffi,
Alireza Zahirieh,
Claire Kennedy,
Daniel Blum,
Ron Wald,
William Beaubien-Souligny
Affiliations
Ann Young
Division of Nephrology, St. Michael’s hospital, Toronto, Canada
Benoit Imbeault
Division of Nephrology, UHN Toronto General Hospital, Canada; Division of Nephrology, Hopital Maisonneuve Rosemont, Canada
Alberto Goffi
Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Critical Care Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada
Alireza Zahirieh
Division of Nephrology, Sunnybrook Health Center, Toronto, Canada
Claire Kennedy
Division of Nephrology, UHN Toronto General Hospital, Canada
Daniel Blum
Division of Nephrology, St. Michael’s hospital, Toronto, Canada; Division of Nephrology Jewish General Hospital, Montreal Canada
Ron Wald
Division of Nephrology, St. Michael’s hospital, Toronto, Canada
William Beaubien-Souligny
Division of Nephrology, St. Michael’s hospital, Toronto, Canada; Division of Nephrology, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal Canada
In nephrology, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has multiple applications including the rapid evaluation of acute kidney injury, enhancing the initial evaluation of chronic kidney disease, direct evaluation of vascular access, and improved fluid balance management in acute and chronic settings [1, 2]. Recently, the role of POCUS has been formally acknowledged by the American College of Physicians and curricula specific to nephrology have been proposed [3, 4]. However, the integration of a novel clinical skill into a field comes with its unique set of challenges. Above all, most nephrologists in leadership roles within fellowship training programs lack POCUS experience, which represent a significant barrier for adequate exposure and teaching. Although educational curriculum centered on nephrology have been proposed, the optimal model to ensure adequate POCUS exposure considering the scarcity of expertise among educators is not known.