Critical care ultrasound training can improve physician trainee knowledge and skills

A dedicated critical care ultrasound (CCUS) training program could help improve physician trainees' knowledge and skills at the bedside.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina implemented a dedicated CCUS curriculum for critical care fellows consisting of didactic/bedside sessions. Participants completed surveys prior to and following 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%, while the global preintervention score was 51.4%. All postintervention measures demonstrated significant improvement: 89.1%, 85.6%, and 87.3%, respectively. In addition, the preintervention confidence score was 2.96, which improved to 4.35 postintervention.

Researchers conclude that an educational intervention for CCUS can result in significant improvements in both subject knowledge and image acquisition skills. This study was presented during CHEST 2012, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held October 20 – 25, in Atlanta, Georgia.