American College of Emergency Physicians
Growth of PEM POCUS Online Collaboratives & Resources
Lindsey Chaudoin, MD
Matthew Moake, MD, PhD
Rahul Shah, MD
The development of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) POCUS as a subfocus of emergency ultrasound started to formalize in the early 2000s, with the first PEM providers graduating ultrasound fellowships and starting their own, more pediatric focused fellowships. Today there are nearly 30 ultrasound fellowships within PEM, and PEM fellowship itself has specific POCUS requirements incorporated for graduation. This growth of the subspecialty has led to more collaboration and available education for pediatric POCUS. Covid accelerated and organized this access further to push more resources online. This has resulted in greater access for all those interested in improving their pediatric POCUS knowledge and skills. We describe here a few of these free resources for your exploration.
P2 Network
Founded in 2014, the P2 (Pediatric Emergency Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasound) Network was established to facilitate expansion of pediatric POCUS in clinical practice. The website serves as a centralized hub for an array of POCUS resources and includes topics such as education, faculty engagement, and quality assurance. Key components include Core Content Education videos, which cover benchmark core content targeted to PEM trainees, and a Meet the Expert series, which covers insights on high-yield POCUS applications from P2 members who are published investigators on the topics. An archive of recorded PEPEC presentations (please see separate descriptor below) is also available.
PEPEC
The Pediatric Emergency Point-of-Care Ultrasound Educational Collaborative (PEPEC) was created at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when emergency ultrasound directors were struggling to continue POCUS education for faculty, fellows, and residents. Since then, PEPEC has met weekly to hear experts virtually present informative clinical cases, new applications, and educational strategies. Meetings are interactive and significant input from the listening audience is sought. Since its creation, PEPEC has grown exponentially and currently includes over 40 academic institutions from across the globe.
PEPEC sessions are held every Thursday at 1 PM EST. Those interested in participating should email Dr. Henry Chicaiza at hchicaiza@connecticutchildrens.org. Free ABP CME is offered.
P2SK
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasound at SickKids (P2SK), hosts one of the oldest and most robust PEM POCUS fellowships. First started in 2011, they have trained POCUS leaders from around the world and offer a repository of free pediatric POCUS resources. Their P2Share Curriculum, accessed via the ‘Resources’ tab on their website, links to a large library of organized YouTube lecture content, including some lectures in French and Hebrew. It further includes key POCUS policy papers for quick reference. For those wanting a more interactive experience, their weekly educational rounds are streamed live each week and feature a POCUS lecture by SickKids faculty, POCUS fellows, and invited outside speakers as well as a weekly journal club to help you stay abreast of recent POCUS literature. Lecture and journal club topics are announced each week via their newsletter, which you can sign up for on the website.
Ultrasound G.E.L. Junior
Founded in 2016, Ultrasound G.E.L. (Gathering Evidence from the Literature) is a podcast that provides clinicians with recent POCUS literature in a straightforward format. G.E.L. Jr. serves as the pediatric-specific arm of the podcast, showcasing a wide range of pediatric-specific POCUS literature. For visual learners, material is further distilled into an infographic available on their website. A comprehensive review of the relevant studies follows, including a thoughtful discussion and Take-Home Points. A rating by an expert reviewer is provided, which assesses the article’s overall strength and likelihood to change clinical practice.
The POCUS Atlas Jr
From the creators of The POCUS Atlas, The POCUS Atlas Jr. provides a free, open-access archive of pediatric POCUS images that can be downloaded for free and used for educational purposes. The website will have a wide range of clips and images, including both common pediatric pathology and normal sonoanatomy. Currently live with pediatric pulmonary, biliary and MSK content in beta form, with plans for more applications to come.
Special thanks to Drs. Henry Chicaiza, Antonio Riera, Michael Macias, Lianne McLean, and Delia Gold for their content contributions and review.
