Western Journal of Emergency Medicine: Integrating Emergency Care with Population Health

Introduction: Despite the inclusion of both diagnostic and procedural ultrasound and regional nerve blocks in the original Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine (EM), there is no recommended standardized approach to the incorporation of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) education in EM training.

Methods: We developed and implemented a structured curriculum for both EM residents and faculty to learn UGRA in a four-hour workshop. Each Regional Anesthesia Anatomy and Ultrasound Workshop was four hours in length and followed the same format. Focusing on common UGRA blocks, each workshop began with an anatomist-led cadaveric review of the relevant neuromusculoskeletal anatomy followed by a hands-on ultrasound scanning practice for the blocks led by an ultrasound fellowship-trained EM faculty member, fellow, or a postgraduate year (PGY)-4 resident who had previously participated in the workshop. Learners identified the relevant anatomy on point-of-care ultrasound and reviewed how to conduct the blocks. Learners were invited to complete an evaluation of the workshop with Likert-scale and open-ended questions.

Results: In the 2020 academic year, six regional anesthesia anatomy and ultrasound workshops occurred for EM faculty (two sessions, N = 24) and EM residents (four sessions, N = 40, including a total of five PGY4s, 10 PGY3s, 12 PGY2s, and 13 PGY1s). Workshops were universally well-received by both faculty and residents. Survey results found that 100.0% of all responding participants indicated that they were “very satisfied” with the session. All were likely to recommend this session to a colleague and 95.08% of participants believed the session should become a required component of the EM curriculum.

Conclusion: The use of UGRA is increasing, and and it critical in EM. An interdisciplinary approach in collaboration with anatomists on an interactive, nerve block workshop incorporating both gross anatomy review and hands-on scanning was shown to be well-received and desired by both EM faculty and residents.