Abstract

• We have formulated a POCUS curriculum for anesthesiology residents focused on repetition, hands-on learning, and longitudinal benchmarks

Introduction

• The use of POCUS for diagnosis and treatment is becoming increasingly prevalent in the perioperative setting across all care environments.(1-3)

• A standardized curriculum does not currently exist for anesthesiology residency programs throughout the United States. (1-3)

• POCUS skills are now incorporated into ABA examinations and OSCEs. (1-3)

• Our mission is to improve our existing anesthesiology training by integrating POCUS learning at our institution comprised of 21 residents per year in a University- affiliated hospital setting

   

  Structure and Methods

  • CA1 and CA3 residents participate in the POCUS intensive during an outpatient- style regional rotation.

  • Information priming via self-guided online modules involving image acquisition, anatomy, and pathology:

  • Basic Lung

  • Focused Cardiac (FATE)

  • Gastric

  • Trauma FAST

  • Airway

    • Hands-on practice via standardized patients, expert-guided instruction sessions, and view acquisition practice on real patients

    • Feedback via pre- and post-curriculum confidence surveys and knowledge assessments

    • Repetition via repeated knowledge assessments and practice OSCEs at time intervals of 1, 3, 6 and 12 months

  
  

  Goals and Future

  • Improve trainee ability to utilize POCUS in perioperative setting for clinical decision making

  • Offer an effective model for POCUS training to other residency programs

  • Improve resident performance on OSCE and board examinations

  
  

  Conclusion

  We have successfully created and integrated a comprehensive POCUS curriculum tailored to anesthesiology training at our institution to meet our goal of improving trainee proficiency in POCUS. This curriculum offers a model for standardizing POCUS training among residencies across the United States.

  Future data collection planned for pre-and post- curriculum confidence surveys and resident scores on assessments

  Affiliations
  1. UAB Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine

  References

  1. Ramsingh D, et al. Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound: From Concept to Application. Anesthesiology. 2020 Apr;132(4):908-916. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000003113.

  2. Yuriy S. et al. Diagnostic Point-of-Care Ultrasound, Recommendations From an Expert Panel, Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, Volume 36, Issue 1,2022, Pages 22-29, ISSN 1053-0770,hOps://doi.org/10.1053/j.jvca.2021.04.016.

  3. Sanders JA, et al. Incorporating Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound as Part of the Anesthesia Residency Curriculum. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2019 Sep;33(9):2414-2418. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2019.04.010. Epub 2019 Apr 16.