Details about POCUS@home Hands-on POCUS Training Workshop

AOD has been providing on-site, on-demand workshops for small and large practice groups since 1997. Practitioners and students in a variety of medical specialties attend (Critical Care, ED, paramedics, nurses) though the primary focus is the anesthesia provider.

POCUS@home is designed to give a firm base of understanding and practice of bedside ultrasound to the generalist anesthesia provider. This course is organized with an intensive learner-instructor relationship do to the nature of clinical ultrasound. The entire group attends a live virtual or in-person lecture (3 hours), typically in an evening before the hands-on events, when a majority of the practice is available. Our instructors then travel to your site on a mutually convenient date for hands on practice with live models and task trainers. Though the hands-on training can be arranged on a weekend day (with small “batches" of your group presenting at an assigned times), we also have designed models that allow POCUS@home to occur during a normal work-week day (consider the benefits of breaking your staff out of the operating room for POCUS training, as opposed to your staff traveling out of town for a course!)

The program Pre-meeting: Typically, you choose an evening in which your staff can attend a 3 hour live, online lecture. Those who cannot attend may view a video recording, but don't have the benefit of a question and answer session. The lecture content is completely customizable. 

Day of meeting: Groups of 3 to 4 learners meet with an instructor for up to 3 hours of hands on practice on live models, and vascular access task trainers. This time is also used to answer individual learner questions. The exams learned are up to the group.

CE/CME (6 hrs): CRNA CE is included in the quoted budget. CME for the MD/DOs will be sought through your hospital. If you can help us identify the correct office (usually Chief of Staff) we will complete the CME application. CME can be secured by a third party but this tends to be extremely expensive for a one time, small event)

Costs: Cost is based on the number of instructors that are needed to efficiently educate your group. In general, one instructor will teach three, 3hr sessions in a single day. We work with you to balance the number of learners, number of instructors and the number of days needed to complete the training. All of our instructors are active, full time anesthesia providers -- they are motivated to complete the training in the least number of days. Though billing is generally on a group basis, per-individual pricing is also available, but a minimum number of students needs to be guaranteed.

In a recent example, clinicians in a group of 30 paid $483* for a 6 CE/CME course. This is a tiny fraction of the cost a learner or group would pay to attend a national course in consideration of travel, lodging and tuition. In addition there is no lost work days nor loss of staff to the facility.  An added benefit is the consistent education across the entire staff.

*Tuition alone is double and triple this amount at AANA and ASA respectively.


Equipment: Through an agreement with industry, POCUS@home can supply high quality ultrasound devices though our instructors prefer to teach on equipment owned by your institution - this is a better learning situation and will encourage the necessary on-going practice once the course is over.

Please feel free to reach out if you have further questions.

Will Rosenblatt, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
Yale University School of Medicine
c203-494-1502
[email protected]

Lecture curriculum

POCUS@home agenda - 3 hour online-live or in-person meeting

Didactics:
Understanding the Physics of ultrasound
Principles of scanning
Probe types
Knobology
Artifacts

POCUS – Echocadiography
     Four basic ECHO views
     Evaluating contractility
     Pericardial effusion
     Chamber size
IVC evaluation
Gastric contents scanning 
Lung Ultrasound
     B-lines
     Pleura effusion
     Pneumothorax
     Bronchial intubation
Cricothyroid membrane location
Bladder scanning
Ultrasound guided procedures
     Central venous access
     Peripheral venous access
     Arterial line placement
     Subcostal view evaluation of hypotension on induction and intraoperative
Cardiac evaluation guided ACLS

Small group hands on practice (Live model and vascular access trainers)*
Gastric ultrasound
Echocadiography
     Four basic ECHO views
     Evaluating contractility
      Pericardial effusion
     Chamber size
     IVC evaluation
Lung Ultrasound
     B-lines and Pleura effusion
     Pneumothorax
     Bronchial intubation
Cricothyroid membrane location
Bladder scanning - qualitative / quantitative
Ultrasound guided procedures
     Central venous access
     Peripheral venous access
     Arterial line placement

Host responsibilities
As host, you are responsible for
     Learner recruitment
     POCUS machines as available* 
     Providing a facility for the event† 
     Catering if desired

* I t is preferable that learners use the same machines that are available in practice
† Quiet classroom(s) and stretcher for model, table for vascular modes 

Course benefits
- Up to date literature
-Uniform staff education
- Held on site at your choice of date and venue
- No travel and missed work or family days
- Cost is a small fraction of typical national workshop model - based on group size
- 25 yrs of AOD with over 140 workshops to date
- 6 hours CE/CME (may be available at no or low cost from your institution)
- CME accredited course qualifies for the part 2 of the ASA POCUS certification