BJH Foundation Grant Funds a POCUS Training Program for the Hospital Medicine Group 

Stephanie Conner, MD, uses POCUS (point of care ultrasound) on a staff member posing as a patient at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on August 11, 2022. MATT MILLER/WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Stephanie Conner, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of POCUS for the Division of Hospital Medicine, was awarded a grant from the Barnes Jewish Hospital Foundation to develop and implement a curriculum and training program for hospitalists. The “POCUS Training Program for Hospital Medicine Faculty” will be tailored to support hospitalist training in POCUS regardless of current skill level or prior training. “The curriculum is designed to meet people where they’re at and help them advance their skills within their scope of practice and interest. The goal is for all faculty to be able to safely supervise trainees and students, who are increasingly learning POCUS and using it in their clinical practice,” said Dr. Conner. 

The curriculum will be implemented over two years to maximize hospitalist attending engagement and learning. Emphasis will initially be placed on clinical indications for POCUS use, basics of acquisition and interpretation, frameworks for how to incorporate POCUS findings into clinical decision-making, and limitations of POCUS. Additionally, Dr. Conner and colleagues will facilitate small group and individual hands-on skill development sessions for hospitalists to practice acquiring and interpreting images in real time. Importantly, the grant also funds an investment in new ultrasound equipment for the division and supports scholarly activities, quality improvement, and the development of a credentialing pathway for POCUS within hospital medicine at BJH. 

For POCUS to be meaningfully incorporated into our group’s clinical practice, the technology has to be accessible and skills have to feel attainable. I’m confident that we can achieve that through the funding of this training program, and I’m excited to work closely with my colleagues to build their skills over the next few years.

Stephanie Conner, MD