# Relative Value of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Person Specification of UK Consultant Job Advertisements Across Multiple Acute Specialties

## TL;DR

This study found that POCUS skills are rarely listed as essential or desirable in UK consultant job ads for acute specialties like emergency and intensive care medicine.

## Contribution

The study is the first to quantify the relative value of POCUS skills in consultant job advertisements across multiple acute specialties in the UK.

## Key findings

- Only 3.85% of consultant job ads listed POCUS skills as essential or desirable.
- Intensive care medicine had the highest rate (11.6%) compared to emergency and acute medicine.
- POCUS skills are not widely viewed as essential for consultant roles in these specialties.

## Abstract

Background

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) skills are very useful in the management of acute patients. It is unknown how highly valued they are at the consultant level. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of POCUS skills being listed as essential or desirable in consultant job advertisements for acute medicine (AM), intensive care medicine (ICM), and emergency medicine (EM) in the United Kingdom (UK).

Methods

We investigated the frequency with which POCUS skills are listed in person specification of consultant jobs advertised in the UK in three acute specialties (AM, ICM, and EM). Data were collected prospectively between May and June 2022 from the NHS Jobs website.

Results

A total of 286 jobs were identified, and 11 jobs (3.85%) listed POCUS skills as either essential or desirable. In AM consultant jobs, only two (1.83%) categorized POCUS as desirable or essential compared to five (11.6%) in ICM and four (3%) in EM.

Conclusion

POCUS skills are mentioned in the person specification in a minority of consultant job advertisements in acute specialties and currently do not seem to be widely viewed as essential or desirable for consultant practice in these specialties. It may be due to not many consultants are currently trained for this new skill, which in turn has led to the scarcity of the skill set demanded by the employing trusts in the UK.