Implementation of a point-of-care ultrasound course in the national Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists annual conference

Introduction Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) is a clinical tool that has been gaining popularity. Its purpose is to either guide procedures (for example, arterial or venous catheter insertions) or to supplement the physical exam to answer focused clinical questions. Despite the evidence supporting PoCUS and its generalized uptake, respiratory therapists lack formal PoCUS training prior to entry to practice. Therefore, our purpose was to create, deliver, and evaluate an evidence-based course aimed at teaching respiratory therapists the basics of lung PoCUS and PoCUS-guided vascular access. Methods Using a scoping review conducted by our group to inform the curriculum, we created a one-day PoCUS introductory course that is delivered annually at the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists Conference. We have administered the course for three years and evaluated each occurrence for course design, delivery, and outcomes. Results The course was delivered to 117 different participants. All participants felt that the difficulty of the content was at a “perfect level”. There was a large improvement in self-reported confidence in transducer selection, image acquisition, and image interpretation for both lung PoCUS and PoCUS-guided intravascular cannulation. One hundred percent of participants enjoyed the workshop led by an interdisciplinary team and would recommend it to a colleague. Conclusions We have assembled a strong interdisciplinary team to introduce the basic concepts of PoCUS in a reliable, easy-to-deliver format that is well-received by respiratory therapists who practice in Canada.