Gastric POCUS FAQs

It’s a five-part online pathway to develop your competence in POCUS gastric image acquisition and interpretation skills, skills that can facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of certain acute organ dysfunction. Developed exclusively for physician anesthesiologists by anesthesiologists with extensive POCUS expertise, this program complements provides access to all of the following:

• Well-vetted POCUS educational materials;
• Mentored* image acquisition training;
• Structured image interpretation training;

*IMPORTANT: Prior to purchase, you will need to decide if you plan to use a Local Mentor or ASA Faculty to attest to your work in Part 4 of the program. See price points for each option and review the role/qualifications of the mentor.

Who may participate?

This course is recommended for anesthesiologists, gastroenterologists, endocrinologists, internists, and those involved in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and family medicine.

How will this program help me?

• Proficiency in POCUS gastric training may improve your bedside diagnostic skills.
• The web-based curriculum allows you to develop and refine your diagnostic POCUS gastric skills at your own pace.

Completion of the curriculum earns a Certificate that some hospital credentialing/privileging bodies could choose to use as evidence of proficiency in diagnostic POCUS for the gastric organ system.

What are some of the features of the program?

• Focuses on diagnostic ultrasound of the abdomen (stomach and peritoneal cavity).
• Culminates in a certificate of completion that could help you demonstrate competence in diagnostic POCUS, for the gastric organ system, to hospital credentialing/privileging committees.
• Earn a digital badge to recognize and validate your qualifications in the gastric content area and share via your LinkedIn or other platforms.

What are the differences between credentials, credentialing, and privileging?

• Credentials: documents that demonstrate either proficiency or completion of a curriculum in something (credentials can be issued by local or national organizations - e.g., board certifications, certificates of completion, etc.)
• Credentialing: verification of qualifications (occurs at the local/hospital level)
• Privileging: granting of rights by hospitals to providers to deliver certain kinds of care (granted at the local/hospital level)

How do I buy it?

Purchase online in Shop ASA.

1. Self-appointed Local Mentor designated to supervise image acquisition competency (*Need a mentor? Select a mentor from a list of registered mentors . Mentors will support you virtually and are not required to be located at your hospital/institution
2. ASA Faculty Mentor assigned to supervise image acquisition competency

What credits are offered?

This activity awards a maximum of 10 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and up to 5 points toward MOCA QI Part 4 requirements of the American Board of Anesthesiology. Completion of an action plan and outcomes report to obtain MOCA Part 4 points are optional activities. However, to receive 5 points toward MOCA QI Part 4 these activities MUST be completed, and your ABA ID number added for accurate reporting to the ABA.

Does the certificate of completion expire?

The Diagnostic POCUS Certificate Program offers a certificate of completion that does not expire. It is not a certification that would award credentials upon completion and later require recertification.

What are the qualifications, responsibilities, and role of the mentor?

Part 4 of this program requires a qualified mentor to review a subset of your portfolio of diagnostic POCUS studies and verify that the exams reviewed are of interpretable quality. Please note: the role of the mentor is merely to verify via a brief web-based form that the learner has demonstrated competence in image acquisition.  The mentor is NOT required to comment at all on the learner’s image interpretation skills (these skills are refined in Part 3 and tested in Part 5 of the Certificate).  However, each mentor is free to provide feedback on the learner’s image interpretation skills if the mentor so chooses.

This program offers two mentor options, at different price points:

1. Local Mentors are qualified attending physicians who agree to review a subset (10%) of your diagnostic POCUS gastric exams.
• Need a Gastric mentor? Select a mentor from a list of registered mentors . Mentors will support you virtually and are not required to be located at your hospital/institution. ASA members seeking a Local Mentor can search the Member Directory to send an email to a mentor. Note, not all Local Mentors may be ASA members.
• See Gastric Local Mentor qualifications posted below.
• See a sample attestation form for gastric (PDF).
2. ASA Faculty will act as mentors if you do not have a Local Mentor.
• ASA Faculty will review and provide approval or feedback on images not approved.
• Remove all Protected Health Information (PHI) from clips before uploading them. (ClipDeidentifier is a free tool you can use to remove patient data. Download of the de-identification tool is available within Part 4 of the program).

Mentors for the gastric certificate must be attending physicians with demonstrated competence in gastric POCUS or a diagnostic gastric ultrasound expert practicing in any specialty (e.g., cardiology, radiology, internal medicine, critical care, and/or emergency medicine). Qualified Gastric Ultrasound Local Mentors must meet one of the qualifications below:

• Completion of the national certificate in gastric ultrasound: ASA Certificate of Completion in Diagnostic POCUS.
• Served as faculty at a CME course (local, regional, or national/international) teaching gastric ultrasound.
• Personally performed and interpreted at least 50 gastric ultrasound exams under appropriate supervision.
• Current Director of POCUS including gastric ultrasound in a Department/Division/Practice Area.

What is required to successfully complete the program and earn the Certificate of Completion?

To earn a Diagnostic POCUS Gastric Certificate of Completion, you will need to complete all five parts of the program within course expiration.

Part 1: Quality Improvement (QI) Action Plan (optional)

Create an action plan for the improvement of your practice. Answer seven questions to help formulate your plan. After completing parts 2-4 of the program, implement your plan, and complete a reflection and outcomes report to qualify for MOCA QI Part 4 points. Answer seven questions to report outcomes. This is an optional activity but required to claim up to 5 MOCA QI Part 4 points.

Part 2: Diagnostic POCUS Gastric Training

Complete the Required Reading within this section of the course. After reading, review the Interactive Module within this section.

Part 3: Interpretation Training

Review 23 unique gastric online cases complete with image clips, questions for interpretation, and detailed explanations with references for further reading.

The cases are designed to train you to identify and interpret normal and abnormal pathology. The abnormal pathology includes the range of cases relevant to an anesthesiologist’s practice, including hypovolemia, cardiac dysfunction, pericardial and pleural effusions, pneumothorax, pulmonary edema, and empty vs. full stomach.

Part 4: Image Acquisition

Demonstrate competence in image acquisition by submitting a diagnostic POCUS studies log that you performed, a subset of which needs to be reviewed by an approved Local Mentor or by ASA faculty.

• 30 gastric ultrasounds

Review image criteria here. 

Please note: for this section of the Certificate (Part 4: Image Acquisition), there is no requirement that the exams contain pathology.  The goal of Part 4 is merely to demonstrate the ability to obtain standardized, interpretable clips.

Part 5: Take the Final Exam

Complete a 22-question timed final exam. The exam is timed to allow approximately 80 seconds per item and graded with a minimum passing score of 70%. The Final Exam must be completed in one sitting for progress to be saved.

You will earn a digital badge after completion of the Final Exam. Your digital badge recognizes and validates your qualifications in the gastric content area and can be downloaded and shared on LinkedIn or other platforms.

You will achieve a Diagnostic POCUS Gastric Certificate of Completion when you pass the Final Exam by scoring 70% or higher. If you score below 70%, you will not be able to access the following attempt for one month before being able to try again and retake it. A maximum of three attempts to pass is permitted for the Final Exam.

Following three unsuccessful attempts, you will need to repurchase the program, re-enroll, and successfully complete the program to obtain the Diagnostic POCUS Gastric Certificate of Completion.

How long will it take to complete the program?

The full curriculum (Parts 1-5) must be completed by February 4, 2027, 11:59 p.m. CT. We want to emphasize that the Diagnostic POCUS Gastric Certificate Program is a robust program that demands a significant time commitment from participants. The exact time required to complete the course can vary based on individual learning styles, prior knowledge, and personal schedules. Some learners may find that they can comfortably complete the course within a few months, while others may need more time to delve into the material thoroughly. See below for approximate time ranges for completion of each part of the program:

Part 1: Quality Improvement (QI) Action Plan (optional)
Time to complete: 30-60 minutes.
Articulate and structure your goals and make a game plan to achieve them. Learners will reflect and report outcomes to earn MOCA QI Part 4 points after completing sections 2-4.

Part 2: Diagnostic POCUS Gastric Training
Time to complete: 1 hour.
Complete the Required Reading then advance to the Interactive Training Module.

Part 3: Interpretation Training
Time to complete: 1 hour.
Interpret 23 online interactive case studies of gastric exams.

Part 4: Image Acquisition
Step 1 - Submit a log of studies (30 gastric exams.)
Time to complete: 1-2 hours if clips are available. If new clips need to be created, 2-4 weeks. Review image criteria here.
Step 2 - Have a subset (10% of studies (3 gastric) reviewed and approved by a mentor.
Time to complete: 30 min - 1 hours for you and the Local Mentor.

A subset of the exams must be reviewed by a mentor. The program offers two mentor selection options at different price points. The mentor’s role is to ensure the reviewed studies are of interpretable quality (i.e., mentor does NOT need to assess the learner’s image interpretation skills, only the learner’s image acquisition skills in this portion of the curriculum).

Part 5: Take the final exam and earn your certificate of completion!
Time to complete: 35 minutes.
The Final Exam is 22 questions with a timeframe of 35 minutes to complete. The Final Exam will assess if you can demonstrate your mastery of the POCUS gastric organ system. The Final Exam is timed to allow approximately 80 seconds per item and graded with a minimum passing score of 70%. Once you begin the Final Exam, you must complete it in one sitting (i.e., the timer cannot be paused).

Will I receive reminders on my progress and status in the program?

Yes, you will receive online announcements to ensure you proceed through the program and complete it in a timely manner. A progress bar is visible throughout the online course to help you track your status within each part of the program.

Who developed the program?

This program was developed by the ASA Point-of-Care Ultrasound Editorial board. The 12-member board includes leading experts in ultrasonography and medical education at renowned U.S. and Canadian academic institutions.

Is there technical support?

Yes, please email your questions or issues to [email protected].

Is there clinical question support?

Yes, clinical support is available within parts 3 and 4 of the program. You can provide comments on a question-level basis for faculty review and feedback. For additional clinical conversation, consider posting a question or participating in the members-only online forum, ASA Community.