The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Boston, USA, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has launched its Global Health Initiative in Pune, India. As part of this initiative, BIDMC has introduced a Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) training program aimed at the teaching faculty of BJ Medical College (BJMC) and Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) in Pune. The announcement was made on Thursday by the officials involved in the project.
POCUS is a portable, cost-effective diagnostic technology that, with proper training, can be used to complement physical assessments. It is particularly beneficial in rural and remote areas, as it reduces the need for additional imaging tests and bridges healthcare access gaps.
Due to the significance of the program, faculty members at BJMC have decided to approach the National Medical Council (NMC) to include POCUS in the official curriculum. The program is spearheaded by Dr. Shweta Yemul Golhar, a course director and faculty member at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School.
The training curriculum, certified by BIDMC, spans three to four months and includes interactive online sessions with anesthesiology experts from Boston. Dr. Golhar mentioned that the training allows participants to apply POCUS techniques in clinical settings, with plans to introduce more advanced techniques like Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) in the future.
The training program has received positive feedback, and once faculty members complete their training, they will pass on the knowledge to students. Dr. Surekha Shinde, head of the anesthesiology department at BJMC and SGH, stressed that all teaching staff is currently enrolled, with postgraduate students set to join in subsequent batches.
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