Efficacy of an 8-week Bedside Ultrasound Training Program for Surgical Residents in the Intensive Care Unit

BackgroundBedside ultrasound has become one of the most important non-invasive and readily available diagnostic tools especially for critically ill patients. However, the current ultrasound training program is not standardized and is mostly unavailable to all surgical residents equally. The aim of this study was to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of our new training program in bedside ultrasound for surgical residents.MethodsPostgraduate residents (years 1 to 4) from the department of general surgery in a tertiary hospital attended the newly designed, 8-week training course in bedside ultrasound for critically ill patients at the surgical intensive care unit. Didactic and experimental lectures in basic ultrasound physics and machine usage were delivered, followed by daily hands-on ultrasound training to patients. Each participant prospectively documented their ultrasound findings and completed self-assessment of ultrasound skills using a Likert scale.Results44 residents were enrolled in the current study and only 36.4% of them were previously exposed to bedside ultrasound experience. Following the course completion, the proficiency levels and the objective structured assessment of ultrasound skill (OSAUS) scores showed significant improvement in all elements (P < 0.001). The mean differences in pre- and post-course score between post-graduate years were recorded, except for proficiency in peritoneal cavity (P = 0.163). Post-hoc analysis revealed that post-graduate year 2 residents showed a higher improvement in most elements. The training program showed improvement in post-course scores, whether or not residents had previous experience.ConclusionsOur results revealed that the knowledge and confidence of surgical residents in bedside ultrasound could be improved via short-term and impact training curriculum. The authors believe that such education should be encouraged for all surgical residents to enhance competency in performing bedside ultrasound evaluation of critically ill patients.