AB172. SOH23ABS_245. The image management challenges of running a basic cardiac echocardiography training programme
Anaesthesia Posters

AB172. SOH23ABS_245. The image management challenges of running a basic cardiac echocardiography training programme

Gillian O’Keeffe1, Areebah Hassan1, Catherine Nix1, Cormac O’Connor1, Michelle Rafferty2, Samer Arnous2

1Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain Medicine, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland; 2Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland

Background: Basic cardiac echocardiography (ECHO) has become a core skill for intensive care medicine (ICM) trainees. The Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine in Ireland (JFICMI) recognizes the Focused UltraSound in Intensive Care (FUSIC) programme of the Intensive Care Society (ICS) and the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) as a framework for basic cardiac ECHO training. At present, the FUSIC programme is offered in a number of Irish ICM training centres including, University Hospital Limerick (UHL). Cardiologists and cardiac physiologists are central to the running of our basic cardiac ECHO programme. This is supported by the 2021 University of Limerick Hospitals Group ICU JFICMI Inspection report which made a 0.5 working time equivalent (WTE) cardiac physiologist recommendation to support ongoing FUSIC Heart training. Currently, this role in UHL is present in an informal capacity only.

Methods: Underscoring the FUSIC Heart programme is deliberate practice of image acquisition techniques with expert feedback. In UHL, supervised scans are undertaken in fortnightly group sessions, run by approved FUSIC mentors with a 1–2 learners per mentor ratio. These group sessions involve both ICM and cardiology trainees, mentors and a supervisor when available. De-identified unsupervised scans are self-directed by the trainee and sent to mentors for appraisal. Both ICM & cardiology trainees informally team up for unsupervised scans to assist in highlighting suitable candidates & good learning opportunities. Several different models of ECHO machines exist UHL and consequently different scan formats. Thus, management of these images provides many challenges.

Results: The integration of cardiology & ICM trainees, mentors and supervisors has several benefits. Firstly, cardiology supervision provides high level expertise for the acquisition and management of basic cardia ECHO images. Group learning sessions foster good working relationships and an appreciation for the perspective of other specialities.

Conclusions: Cardiologist and cardiac physiologist support, supervision & input in basic ECHO training is invaluable and benefits both ICM and cardiology trainees. We recommend formalization of these roles in UHL.

Keywords: Basic cardiac echocardiography; image management; Focused UltraSound in Intensive Care (FUSIC); image acquisition; deliberate practice

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-23-ab172
Cite this abstract as: O’Keeffe G, Hassan A, Nix C, O’Connor C, Rafferty M, Arnous S. AB172. SOH23ABS_245. The image management challenges of running a basic cardiac echocardiography training programme. Mesentery Peritoneum 2023;7:AB172.

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