Physician Trainee Critical Care Ultrasound Skills Improved

A dedicated critical care ultrasound (CCUS) training program could help optimize physician trainees’ skills and knowhow at the bedside.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC; USA) put into effect a dedicated CCUS curriculum for critical care personnel comprised of didactic/bedside sessions. Participants completed surveys before and after the program to assess confidence in ultrasonography knowledge and skills, as well as their perception as to training effectiveness.

The preintervention knowledge/bedside image acquisition scores were 71.4% and 31.5%, respectively, whereas the global preintervention score was 51.4%. All postintervention actions revealed considerable improvement: 89.1%, 85.6%, and 87.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the preintervention confidence score was 2.96, which improved to 4.35 postintervention.

The UNC investigators concluded that an educational intervention for CCUS could result in significant improvements in both subject knowledge and image acquisition skills. The study’s findings were presented during CHEST 2012, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held October 20-25, 2012, in Atlanta (GA, USA).

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill