Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Rotation
The POCUS curriculum for the anesthesia residents at Tulane is a longitudinal curriculum that begins in the PGY-1 year. Every 5th week during the intern year, the residents spend 2 days dedicated to learning POCUS with the anesthesia department. The topics covered are ultrasound physics and lung ultrasound for the first 3 weeks, followed by gastric ultrasound for 1 week, eFAST exam for 2 weeks, and 3 weeks on focused TTE. This is supplemented by formal lectures during CA-1, CA-2, and CA-3 years.
Residents also have a dedicated four weeks during either CA-2/CA-3 year to learning and performing POCUS. During the dedicated time, the residents build on their POCUS knowledge that they have gained and practiced during the PGY-1 and CA-1 years. They also teach medical students on their POCUS elective with the anesthesia department. Advanced topics such as use of continues wave, pulsed wave and tissue doppler for VEXUS scans, diastology, and estimation of PA pressures are covered. Other relevant topics and exams such as BLUE protocol, RUSH exam, ultrasound exam of the neck to evaluate for successful intubation, measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter for estimating ICP are also covered. The residents are expected to complete a minimum of 50 cardiac exams, 30 lung, gastric and eFAST exams throughout training. The POCUS training is supervised by Vinod Singaram MD, PhD.
