Expanding point-of-care ultrasound training in a low- and middle-incomecountry: experiences from a collaborative short-training workshop in Kenya

Abstract

CKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In Kenya, little data exists on point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training and use for family medicine physicians. In 2017, a 3-day POCUS workshop assembled most of the family medicine physicians in Kenya. Through surveys, we assessed how this workshop could affect the level of POCUS use, skill, and confidence in family medicine prac-titioners in the long term. METHODS: Structured surveys, distributed before, after, and 10 months post-workshop assessed demographics, POCUS use, barriers, comfort, and skills based on attendee self-assessment. We compared data from the prework-shop surveys to postsurveys and post-postsurveys to assess immediate and long-term differences. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate con-tinuous data, and significance was based on a P value of <.05. RESULTS: The proportion of participants who self-reported using POCUS in-creased significantly between presurvey and post-postsurvey (29.7% to 63.2%, P=.0161). Mean confidence scores increased significantly from presurvey to postsurvey and post-postsurvey. For all body systems, self-reported mean skill scores increased significantly from presurvey to postsurvey and post-postsur-vey. Lack of access to machines and mentorship are substantial barriers to increasing POCUS use. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the utility of one-time POCUS training in increasing long-term POCUS uptake by participants. While encouraging, our findings also show barriers to increasing POCUS use. These barriers must be addressed, potentially through intradepartmental and interorganizational ex-changes of resources to ensure that future POCUS workshops are successful in supporting POCUS use in Kenya.