Point-of-care ultrasound in the Western world is a hot trend. There’s the idea that clinicians can use this tool to aid in diagnosis as an extension of the phy

Point-of-care ultrasound in the Western world is a hot trend. There’s the idea that clinicians can use this tool to aid in diagnosis as an extension of the physical exam (e.g. I’m worried this patient might have a kidney stone, let me slap the ultrasound on their back and check). The pitch has been that it would increase throughout and alleviate the strain on radiology departments giving us and our sonographers more time to do more complex imaging studies. In practice, the training and skill of clinicians ranges from borderline negligent to amazing, leaning more towards the lower end. Given this heterogeneity, it is still yet to be accepted as a true diagnostic test in many places where a radiology department exists so the purported benefits aren’t being realized. Ultrasound is harder than it looks, and unfortunately a lot of physicians just took a weekend course to get certified. In the hands of an adequately trained physician, I feel it’s very safe for clinicians to perform basic scans and that it would safely expedite patient care while alleviating burden on radiology so overall benefiting the system more than a cost thing.