Ultrasound Skills Development
Training Reps and Game-Time Experience
I love this time of year when college football is closing in and all the hype about ‘what could be’ is at a peak. Last minute decisions are being made to determine who key starters are going to be and who will get the precious remaining ‘training reps’ with the first team offense or defense that are so critical to getting timing down and recognizing and working through mistakes in a real ‘Game-Time’ atmosphere.
It was at a workshop that I was teaching last year in Chicago that got me to thinking about this analogy as it relates to putting into clinical practice new ultrasound techniques. A very insightful anesthesiologist at the workshop asked me a very good question. He indicated his desire to incorporate the new ultrasound techniques we had been covering but was concerned with what would almost certainly be a relatively ‘not so slick’ performance (in terms of technique and even in communicating with his assistant in front of the patient). After working with he and his group, I have no doubts that he can safely and effectively accomplish his goal, but I can appreciate and understand the additional stress he was describing that comes with trying a new technique in a real ‘Game-Time’ experience. The stress of working on something new at a workshop in nothing like the stress one experiences trying to do the same in front of a real patient. That is, getting comfortable to a low stress environment will only take you so far. At the same time, how can you improve your skill in a real clinical scenario without hurting the patient (or taking all day) without actually getting in that atmosphere? I would like to take this time discuss this issue and hopefully offer some helpful solutions to this dilemma.
Certainly, there is nothing that beats having an expert or ‘coach’ with you at your facility that has just gotten you oriented and prepared and will stand with you as you perform the new technique several times in a row then offer advice afterward. Let’s assume this isn’t an everyday option for everyone and talk about how you can still get in some valuable training reps in a ‘Game Time’ experience to boost your confidence and advance your technique while you work out some of the kinks in your routine.
The first and easiest way to develop comfort with your routine and general ultrasound technique is to find ‘additional’ opportunities to scan real patients in the holding room (or wherever your blocks and procedures are typically performed). When I say ‘additional’, I mean…
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