An Exploration of the Perceptions of Radiology Professionals towards Point of Care Ultrasound Training for Non-Radiology Health Care Providers.
Point of care ultrasound has been adopted across the globe to address the human resource gap in areas where radiology professionals cannot easily
be accessed. POCUS is aimed at equipping non-radiology professionals such as nurses, mid-wives,
clinical officers and doctors with basic ultrasound skills to enable them perform their routine clinical tasks. It is thus used as a tool to aid routine standard of clinical care.
The non-radiology professionals that have undergone point of care ultrasound training are ideally not expected to write comprehensive radiological reports, but rather the ultrasound skills gained just assist them to make instant clinical decisions at their point of work. The comprehensive ultrasound investigations remain the domain of qualified radiologists and sonographers.
The less developed countries still have challenges in delivering adequate care to their populations. It has been reported that many people in such countries still lack access to basic ultrasound services. However, ultrasound plays an important role as a diagnostic tool across all countries.
This is because it is relatively affordable, portable and uses non-ionizing radiation. Previous studies have reported the
utility of ultrasound in medical, surgical, and obstetric care settings.
As part of the routine antenatal care, many women are now required to at least undergo an obstetric
ultrasound scan during their pregnancy as it has the potential to identify high-risk pregnancies and pregnancy-related complications.
However, many countries still face the challenge of having few radiologists and sonographers who are specially trained to perform ultrasound scans. In many rural areas for example, there are no radiologists/sonographers at all, leaving these areas devoid of qualified professionals to perform the ultrasound scan examinations.
Radiol Open J. 2020; 4(1): 16-20. doi: 10.17140/ROJ-4-126
