The Acute Care Core Plus course takes the original Canadian AC CORE IP course and puts it on steroids! Be prepared for the most intense course you have ever taken in your life but leave amazed by the skills you have acquired and confidence in your ability to integrate POCUS into your day-to-day practice.
It starts 8 weeks before course date when you get enrolled into the online course and begin studying the modules. You’re motivated because you know that unless you complete the pre-course work you won’t be allowed to even hold a probe at the course! The online course has video lectures and text with regular quizzes to help you work through the modules and the class WhatsApp group chat is there if you have problems. Regular reminders keep you on track as the course date comes closer. You get the agenda for the week and realize you have to completely clear your schedule and get lots of rest for the week ahead. WOW! 10-12 hour days – Really? and starting at 07.30, are they serious?
Day 1 and you discover – Yes, they were serious about the 10 hour days! You’re a little nervous because some of that online stuff didn’t make complete sense but they seem to think that’s normal. Also, bizarrely, they seem delighted that you’ve never actually done any scanning before. ” No bad habits” they say! Then you dive into it. What ! No lectures?! Just a quick review of how to do the first scan and then, the class splits into pairs and you start at the model scan stations. It’s all done in simple steps with an instructor helping at every step. Scan, Rest, Repeat. By tea break, you’re already tired but you are starting to believe that you might actually manage to succeed at this. At the end of Day 1 you have scanned all areas multiple times and the Course Director flashes up a slide of the goals for Day 1 and you’re amazed at what you have achieved. Then the goals for Day 2. WHAAAT? The MCQ test is tomorrow! “But don’t stress about it – it is just on the precourse material, you did before the course!” Right!
Day 2 Okay, now the real work begins. Same S ***, different day. Same SCAN that is! The goals for today look a bit daunting, but the instructors say it is all achievable. Its nice to realize that all of your scans will be assisted by the instructor. Where did my partner go? What happened to Scan, Rest, Repeat? They split the group into two and now you’re either scanning on your own with an instructor or at a tutorial. You learn that every scan has a set of troubleshooting steps to go through if you have difficulty. You see that interpreting the image can be broken down into simple steps as well. You’ve never worked this hard – ever! By the end of the day, you’re completely exhausted and beginning to doubt you’ll ever get there, but then today’s goals flash on the screen and you realize you’re still on track! And all those apprentices and instructors were in your shoes when they started out and they’re looking pretty impressive now. So you can do it too, right?
Day 3 Something magic happened while you were asleep! Things somehow just came together and now holding the probe feels more natural. Who cares that the MCQ didn’t go well yesterday? You were able to go over the tough areas afterwards and you can just redo it today. You feel more confident in your scans but apparently you can’t mark that scan as unassisted until you get enough numbers in your logbook. A new lung protocol is added building on what you already know. More practice at image interpretation. Still no rest! But you begin to see its not just the students working hard. The instructors are working just as hard to make sure each student gets what they need to be successful and that the apprentices are always supported. The apprentices tell you they are learning more from teaching than they did as students! The daily goals look good at the end of the day.
Day 4 Now you start to stress about the visual and practical exams. You can’t really help it. You’re just not used to a course where everyone is on the same team pushing towards the finish line. You’ve done 5 completely unassisted scans and are now eligible for a practical exam. You tentatively try one and okay, it really was just another unassisted exam. You missed one but you know the system now – debrief, learn from it and have another go. The best part though is that now you feel you could handle what to do when you get home and have a difficult or indeterminate scan. And that was really your concern, all along.
Day 5 You start off with a full lung protocol, different but just follow the steps, right? Now the visual exams, You managed to stress about that as well, didn’t you? It turns out to be like a tutorial on image interpretation but one-on-one with an instructor. And, it turns out, there is actually a bit of down time today as you wait your turn for visual exams. All this one-on-one was pretty intense but they kept the really fun part to the end. The “teach the teacher” module where you act as the instructor. Wow! Is it ever hard to explain to someone what to do without taking over. Don’t touch that probe! Now you think: “Okay, maybe I could handle showing one of my colleagues the basics when I get home. Actually, I think that apprentice week is starting to look pretty good!”
““I’ve been pretty blown away by the way the course is organized and the material that is covered. You get more hands-on experience in a week on this course than I had in six months of fellowship” Dr Rachel Libby, Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine, Brown University, USA
A Message from The President of the Canadian Point of Care Ultrasound Society:
Participant Perspective:
Nairobi CPoCUS Master Instructor: