Surgeon-Directed HPB Operative Ultrasound: Clinical Practice, Certification, and Beyond

Background: Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) Association established the HPB ultrasound (US) course in 2012. This aim of this work is to describe the motivations and experiences of North American surgeons in US following course work.

Methods: An anonymous on-line survey of open-ended questions was sent to previous course participants. Analysis was conducted using qualitative methods.

Results: Between 2012 and 2018, 69 surgeons from the United States (63) and Canada(6) took the HPB US course, 15 of which (21.7%) returned the survey. The desire for US training/experience and certification were dominant reasons to take coursework.The most common challenges to incorporate US into practice were related to US system, where cost issues were dominant.

Conclusion: Cost of the US system is an important challenge to incorporate US into practice. Although HPB surgeons are motivated to seek US training to enhance knowledge and skills, they are also interested in obtaining US certification.

Keywords: Surgical ultrasound, Hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, Intraoperative ultrasound, Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, Ultrasound training course

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Hagopian, Ellen J. and Adams, Reid B. and Machi, Junji, Surgeon-Directed HPB Operative Ultrasound: Clinical Practice, Certification, and Beyond (June 10, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3402074 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3402074