Ultrasound Saturday School
Ultrasonography has been increasingly utilized in anesthesiology and pain medicine enabling anatomically precise perioperative and chronic pain management. Mastering these complex technical tasks is a time - and effort – intensive process on both an individual and a systems level. Oftentimes, traveling to remote locations is required and the related costs may be substantial, making additional training unachievable for busy clinicians, residents and fellows.
In 2014, chronic pain and regional anesthesia fellows located at St. Michael’s Hospital expressed a keen desire to learn musculoskeletal ultrasonography. To address this need, and with the generous support of the Departmental Education Committee and SMH Perioperative Services, the Ultrasound Saturday School (USS) launched in October of 2014. The USS has been made available to fellows and senior-level residents at no charge. In the 2014/15 academic year, 8 workshops were conducted that focused on the upper and lower extremities as well as spinal sonoanatomy. High-quality ultrasound equipment with almost MRI-quality of image facilitated the learning process and expanded horizons of knowledge. One of the trainees has successfully completed an international certification examination in pain medicine ultrasonography (CIPS); in providing feedback to the board of examination, he asserted that the program helped him immensely in preparations for the test.
Teaching in anesthesia is heavily based on daily exposure of residents and fellows to realities of the anesthesia practice, bedside training and mentorship. To effectively teach ultrasonography, our model advocates for a bit more time, as well as a non-stressful environment, than learners typically encounter in the preoperative setting. Moreover, Ultrasound Saturday School takes into consideration busy call and weekly schedules, and gathers together individuals in a format that truly meets their individual learning needs.
Ultrasound Saturday School will continue to be offered on a monthly basis, on a volunteer basis, by our interested and dedicated University of Toronto, Department of Anesthesia faculty members. The meeting dates can be found on the department’s website under “Events”. Registration will continue to be based on first come-first served basis.