STFM Announces New Point of Care Ultrasound Task Force and Initiative on POCUS Family Medicine Education

Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has been shown to have a positive impact on patient care.¹ As the demand for and use of POCUS in clinical practice grows, so does the need for training in graduate medical education.² The ACGME Family Medicine Program Requirements that went into effect in July 2024 require programs to ensure residents gain experience using POCUS in clinical care.³ The rapid rise of POCUS has resulted in an environment where there is very little standardization in curriculum and competency assessment, and few faculty members have the necessary skills and resources to teach it to family medicine residents.⁴

Recognizing this gap, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) developed a multi-year initiative to develop and implement a competency-based, standardized curriculum for POCUS training. Project FOCUS: Finding Consensus for POCUS Standards in Family Medicine Education and Competency Based Assessment is a 3-year initiative supported by the American Board of Family Medicine and implemented by a 12-member Task Force with expertise in POCUS education in family medicine in diverse settings across the country.

The objectives of Project FOCUS include:

• Develop a consensus on POCUS competencies and curriculum for family medicine residency training

• Create a vision and plan for competency-based assessments for POCUS education

• Aligning the specialty of family medicine to push POCUS education forward

The Task Force will achieve these objectives by building consensus on competencies using Delphi and other consensus building methodology; hosting a Family Medicine Education POCUS Summit; developing and piloting curriculum and assessment tools; collaborating within family medicine and other specialties; and evaluating curriculum effectiveness, faculty confidence, and resident competency.

The Task Force looks forward to collaboration within family medicine to strengthen POCUS training in residencies. There will be opportunities to provide input on curriculum and assessment resources during the pilot phase of the initiative, as well as disseminating final tools after the pilot. Implementation of the curriculum will be important to ensure family medicine educators have the POCUS teaching expertise needed to train all family medicine residents in these important clinical diagnostic skills. If your residency program is interested in piloting curriculum and assessment tools or you would like to provide any input, please contact Ryan Paulus (ryan_paulus{at}med.unc.edu) or April Davies (adavies{at}stfm.org).

For additional information on STFM’s POCUS activities, visit https://www.stfm.org/about/keyinitiatives/pocus/

Project FOCUS Task Force Members: Ryan Paulus, DO, University of North Carolina, Task Force Chair; Juana Nicoll Capizzano, MD, University of Michigan, Curriculum Workgroup Lead; Puja Dalal, MD, Novant Health, Summit Workgroup Lead; Nicholas LeFevre, MD, MS, University of Missouri, Research Workgroup Lead; Hiten Patel, MD, The Ohio State University, Competency Assessment Workgroup Lead; William Hui, MD, Stanford University; Natalie Nguyen, DO, Kaiser Permanente; Anthony Recidoro, DO, Naval Hospital Jacksonville; Varshaben Songara, MD, Harnett Health; Joy Shen-Wagner, MD, University of South Carolina; Johnny Tenegra, MD, Southern Illinois University; Ryan Trantham, MD, Waco Family Medicine

• © 2025 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.