Feasibility of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training and Remote Quality Assurance for Community Physicians in Conflict-Affected Syria

June 24, 2026 updated by: sara dichtwald, Meir Medical Center

Background: POCUS can extend diagnostic capabilities where conventional imaging is unavailable, yet evidence on its implementation in active conflict zones remains scarce. We describe the feasibility of a POCUS training, device deployment, and remote quality assurance program for community physicians working in village clinics in Syria.

Methods: Nine physicians from five community clinics participated in a two-day in-person POCUS training course adapted to a conflict-affected, resource-constrained setting. The curriculum focused on cardiac, lung, FAST, and soft-tissue applications. At course completion, each clinic received a handheld Butterfly ultrasound device. Participants subsequently uploaded examinations to a cloud-based platform for remote expert review and feedback. Outcomes included immediate post-course satisfaction, perceived confidence, and early post-course POCUS use over follow-up.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

9

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Nine physicians from five community clinics serving villages in a region of Syria that cannot be further specified for security reasons participated in the program. Participants represented several medical specialties and were selected in collaboration with IFA based on their involvement in frontline community care and their anticipated ability to integrate POCUS into clinical practice.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:Nine physicians from five community clinics serving villages in a region of Syria that cannot be further specified for security reasons participated in the program. Participants represented several medical specialties and were selected in collaboration with IFA based on their involvement in frontline community care and their anticipated ability to integrate POCUS into clinical practice.

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Exclusion Criteria:None

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Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
immediate post-course satisfaction
Time Frame: Immediately after the completion of the course
Immediately after the course, all nine participants completed a feedback questionnaire assessing course delivery, instructor quality, content, hands-on practice, perceived confidence, and anticipated clinical utility
Immediately after the completion of the course

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Meir Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 18, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 24, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 1, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 24, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Not yet recieved

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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