The Department of Medicine is delighted to announce that Edwin Jackson, DO, MBA, FACP, FCCP, has been selected to receive the 2022-2023 Dexter Fellowship. As this year’s Dexter Fellow, Jackson will pursue his project, “Improving Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Education.”
“I was motivated to pursue this idea out of a desire to improve both bedside ultrasound education and patient care,” said Jackson, who is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine.
Rakesh Mehta, MD, Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine, said Jackson’s proposed curriculum is “innovative” and will help faculty better meet the needs of its learners.
“Dr. Jackson has recognized that while POCUS has become an increasingly powerful tool in the care of patients, there are not enough faculty with the experience and skill set to teach our medical students and residents,” said Mehta.
Jackson’s project will help address that deficiency, he added.
POCUS is a widely used tool among physicians for hospitalized patients, Jackson explained. But despite its ubiquity, he said, clinicians do not consistently possess the skills to acquire quality images and document and interpret their findings--and this can have serious clinical consequences.
According to Jackson, research has shown that the absence of trained faculty experts and the lack of a formal curriculum are significant barriers to solving this problem.
His project proposes to dismantle these barriers by establishing a competency-focused, interdisciplinary POCUS pilot curriculum within his division, and then cultivating and advancing this POCUS expertise through the Department of Medicine.
Additionally, Jackson said, his project will foster diversity, equity and inclusion “by utilizing the POCUS infrastructure, minority faculty involvement, and inherent trainee interest in ultrasound as an avenue for mentorship, clinical experiences, and educational opportunities for underrepresented residents and medical students,” he said.
The Dexter Fellowship was created to assemble a core nucleus of accomplished clinical teachers, medical education scholars and experienced mentors in the Department to advance medical education. The formation of this academy would not be possible without the generous philanthropic support of Richard N. Dexter, MD, professor emeritus of medicine in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology, who passed away in April.
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