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Objectives:Emergency medicine (EM) is rapidly developing as a specialty in Vietnam and point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is currently taughtas part of formal EM curriculums. No studies have yet been published that assess POCUS usage or the need for specific POCUS applications in emergency departments in Vietnam. Methods: A survey was administered to 104 Vietnamese physicians attending a national emergency medicine symposiumabout their use of POCUS, prior POCUS training, attitudes about the utility of POCUS and need for further POCUS training, as well as their comfort level with POCUS in their clinical practice. Data was analyzed using logistic regression to identify factors associated with POCUS usage in Vietnamese emergency departments. Results:Increased access to ultrasound machines was significantly associated with increased POCUS usage, with “all the time” access (OR=92.9, 95% CI=7.15 – 1207.6, p=0.001)being more strongly associated than “sometimes” access (OR=41.4, 95% CI=4.08 – 419.8, p=0.002). Formaltraining did not increase POCUS usage (OR=1.39, 95% CI=0.38 – 5.06, p=0.62) and 50.0% of respondents who regularly used POCUS had no formal training. Women were less likely to report performing POCUS regularly (OR=0.12, 95% CI=0.03-0.71, p=0.017). There was no significant difference in physician preference or comfort for any single application of POCUS.POCUSwas used most frequently for right upper quadrantand renal studies and least frequently for deep venous thrombosisstudies. 98.0% of trainees and 96.3% of independently practicing physicians reported a desire for additional POCUS training. Conclusions: Regular access to ultrasound machines increases the frequency with which point of care ultrasound is used clinically in emergency departments in Vietnam. Those with formal training were equally likely to use POCUS as those without formal training. This finding may suggest the need for additional quality control measures to ensure that POCUS use and interpretation consistently meet safety and quality standards. Additional qualitative studies should be conducted to identify POCUS applications that are of most use to practitioners in Vietnam. The gender difference in self-reported POCUS usage may reflect reporting bias or actual differences in training or practice and warrants additional investigation in future studies.

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