The healthcare community has always been at the heart of our society. A fact further acknowledged this past year as medical professionals served on the frontline to keep us moving forward while the world felt like it stopped.
From their impact during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to their longstanding commitment to better care, healthcare workers have always been committed to providing for others. Through their innovation, collaboration, and dedication, this community has always worked together towards a common goal of ensuring high-quality care be accessible to all.
At the Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Certification Academy™, we see the powerful impact of collaboration in everything that we do. As we work together to uphold the standards of excellence in POCUS, we “provide healthcare professionals the opportunity to collaborate in the shared mission of improving global health.”
MissionPOCUS
The POCUS Certification Academy™ engages with collaboration in the healthcare community through MissionPOCUS, our philanthropic initiative that provides grant funding to a chosen organization to encourage the expansion of point-of-care ultrasound to new communities and practitioners.
Annually, our team joins forces with organizations and partners who are passionate about expanding the reach of POCUS to under-resourced areas around the world. Through this collaboration, POCUS technology, education, and certification opportunities can benefit more people globally.
2021 MissionPOCUS Grant Recipients
For the first time since the inception of the initiative, the 2021 MissionPOCUS grant is awarded to two organizations. MedGlobal and Global Ultrasound Institute (GUSI) have partnered together to establish a pilot program to show the feasibility of effectively training healthcare providers in a POCUS protocol using remote learning.
Their effort supports the population of Rohingya refugees living in the Cox’ Bazaar refugee camp in Bangladesh. To elevate the level of care this population receives, they are using POCUS to empower the frontline medical professionals working at the clinic MedGlobal established within the camp.
“The more you can empower those frontline providers with ultrasound, education and training and coaching, the better decisions they’re going to make for their patients and the better they’ll take care of them,” said Co-Founder of GUSI, Dr. Kevin Bergman.
This refugee population is at risk for communicable and non-communicable diseases. Frequently, due to the lack of available testing and resources, the clinic undergoes high resource utilization because of the need to transfer patients to referral centers or field hospitals.
Having worked at the clinic on several occasions in years past, Board Member and Head of Ultrasound Training at MedGlobal, Dr. Nahreen Ahmed, has first-hand knowledge and experience on how POCUS can enhance the care available to these individuals.
“By allowing the practitioners to utilize point-of-care ultrasound, we may be able to pick up diagnoses that would prevent patients from getting referred, thereby really improving resource utilization and on the contrary, it might improve early recognition of something that needs referral sooner than later,” said Dr. Ahmed.
She went on to highlight how, by providing “something that’s low cost, that’s handheld, easily teachable,” this initiative “can provide a major impact in an area where access is so extremely poor and may continue to be poor for quite a long time.”
While their partnership is focused on this particular refugee camp, if their novel study proves to be successful, this effort has the potential to redefine healthcare in low-resource areas in terms of POCUS training around the globe.
A Universal Mission
The Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certification Academy believes the future of ultrasound is portable and mobile and has the power to continue to create a monumental impact in medicine. That is why to grow and uphold the community standards of excellence in POCUS, we partner with fellow healthcare professionals through offering learning resources, assessments, and certification opportunities, and initiatives such as MissionPOCUS.
“Our goal as educators is to improve access to this technology everywhere in the world where it is needed,” said Dr. Bergman. Collaborations like the partnership between MedGlobal and GUSI help us, as a society, move closer to achieve high-quality global healthcare. The willingness to collaborate will continue to be critical to make what we envision a reality.
While this philanthropic movement is still young, its impact has already intensely affirmed what the medical community could achieve when we work together.
Want to start your POCUS journey today? Check out our many certificate and certification programs.
