Point-of-care ultrasound assessment of the abdominal aorta by physician assistant students: a pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) decreases time to diagnosis and improves mortality of those diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysms and dissections. While medical students have demonstrated an ability to obtain adequate POCUS images of the abdominal aorta (AA), physician assistant (PA) student studies are lacking. This pilot study aims to evaluate the ability of PA students to acquire AA POCUS images.


METHODS
PA students, instructors, and models voluntarily participated. Student participants received online material to review several weeks before the study. During the study, students performed 4 precepted practice scans of the AA, and their fifth scan was recorded for review by three ultrasound fellowship trained Emergency Medicine physicians. Images were graded on proper identification and measurement of the AA, as well as interpretability of images.


RESULTS
A total of 20 PA students participated. Ninety-five percent were able to obtain interpretable transverse images of the distal aorta and longitudinal views of the aorta, and 65% were able to obtain interpretable transverse images of the proximal and mid aorta.


CONCLUSIONS
In the most rigorous evaluation of student-obtained AA POCUS images to date, we found that PA students were able to obtain adequate AA images. PA students were able to image the distal and longitudinal aorta in the transverse plane where the majority of AAAs are found to a very high degree. Results demonstrate PA students' ability to learn POCUS and encourage PA education to take steps to incorporate POCUS education and development of competency standards for PA graduates.
['Jaynstein|Dayna|D|', 'Baeten|Robert|R|', 'Bafuma|Patrick|P|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3194-3218', 'Krakov|Rachel|R|', 'Biggs|Danielle|D|', 'She|Trent|T|', 'Yuzuk|Nicole|N|']
D000328:Adult D000784:Aneurysm, Dissecting D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal D002983:Clinical Competence D004635:Emergency Medicine D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D010823:Physician Assistants D010865:Pilot Projects D000067716:Point-of-Care Testing D011446:Prospective Studies D014463:Ultrasonography
Point-of-care ultrasound Ultrasound Aorta Physician assistant Education