Point of care ultrasound training in internal medicine: Steps towards standardization

How much POCUS for Czech internists?

The introduction of point-of-care ultrasonography into practice in internal medicine and subsequently into the educational program for our specialty brought the need to define a curriculum for training in this method. We solve the question of "what to teach" - i.e. what core ultrasound competencies internists should learn for their practice. It is also necessary to define the procedure "how to teach" - the form and content of the education program, what the basic course should contain, and above all how the subsequent training should take place in practice. The third major problem to be solved is "who should teach", i.e. the definition of the requirements for trainers who will lead the training.

The Conundrum of Volume Status Assessment: Revisiting Current and Future Tools Available for Physicians at the Bedside

Assessment of patients’ volume status at the bedside is a very important clinical skill that physicians need in many clinical scenarios. Hypovolemia with hypotension and tissue under-perfusion are usually more alarming to physicians, but hypervolemia is also associated with poor outcomes, making euvolemia a crucial goal in clinical practice. Nevertheless, the assessment of volume status can be challenging, especially in the absence of a gold standard test that is reliable and easily accessible to assist with clinical decision-making. Physicians need to have a broad knowledge of the individual non-invasive clinical tools available for them at the bedside to evaluate volume status. In this review, we will discuss the strengths and limitations of the traditional tools, which include careful history taking, physical examination, and basic laboratory tests, and also include the relatively new tool of point-of-care ultrasound.