SynthesisMedical education2025
Is ultrasound training sustainable? A systematic review of competency retention in healthcare trainees.
Synthesis in Medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is ultrasound training sustainable? A systematic review of competency retention in healthcare trainees.Medical education · 2025Pooled it
- Blended e-learning with handheld ultrasound devices improves practical competence in eFAST: a randomised controlled study.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- A serious video game for teaching basic point-of-care echocardiography skills: a non-inferiority trial.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- POCUS for the People: A Rounds-Integrated Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum for Medical Students at a Guatemalan Public Hospital.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Assessing the Transferability of Peer-Assisted Ultrasound Training for Medical Students: A Comparative Study Between Two Institutions in Germany and the UK.Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- The Long road to AI-physician partnership starts with learners: a map for AI in medical education.BMJ digital health & AI · 2026Review
- Beyond 'use it or lose it': Retention of competence.Medical education · 2025Article
- Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in Pediatric Practice in Poland: Perceptions, Competency, and Barriers to Implementation-A National Cross-Sectional Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeDespite Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) emerging as an essential clinical skill, evidence regarding practitioners' knowledge retention and competence remains poorly synthesized. This systematic review sought to evaluate PoCUS competency retention patterns using the Indication, Acquisition, Interpretation, Medical decision-making (I-AIM) framework following various educational interventions and to identify factors influencing long-term skill retention among healthcare professional trainees.
methodsThe authors conducted a systematic review by searching PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase databases (1990-2024) for studies evaluating PoCUS educational interventions with objective competency measures and retention assessment. Data were analysed based on educational strategies, course duration and retention patterns across I-AIM domains.
resultsThirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 1638 participants (38.6% medical students, 20.5% attending physicians). Most studies employed a single-group pretest-posttest design (54.8%) and demonstrated moderate-to-high methodological quality (Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument median: 12.5, interquartile range [IQR]: 11.0 to 13.0). Within the I-AIM framework analysis, all domains of competency retention demonstrated a decline over a 1-12-month follow-up period. The Acquisition domain showed the most significant decline with median percentage changes of -11.8% (IQR: -16.5% to -6.4%), followed by Interpretation, Medical decision-making and Indication. Short-course programs (≤4 h) demonstrated greater competency decline (median: -11.8%, IQR: -16.9% to -4.4%) compared to long-course programs (median: -2.6%, IQR: -6.8% to 1.3%). Hands-on practice with high-fidelity simulation and clinical context integration were associated with superior retention outcomes across multiple domains.
conclusionsUltrasound competence retention showed variable decay patterns across I-AIM domains, with Acquisition skills showing the most pronounced deterioration, particularly following short-course programs. Comprehensive training programs integrating high-fidelity hands-on practice and clinical context may enhance PoCUS retention for healthcare providers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.