Integrating echocardiography into human patient simulator training of anesthesiology residents using a severe pulmonary embolism scenario.

INTRODUCTION: Echocardiographic images were integrated into patient simulation (PS)-based resident training with a goal of highlighting the applicability and limitations of pure pressure-based measurements in the management of different disease states.

METHODS: Relevant echocardiographic images were selected, categorized, and sequenced to best represent specific hemodynamic changes and incorporated into a Powerpoint slideshow. Appropriate PS scenarios were then created to represent the hemodynamic changes seen with the selected pathophysiologic states. Instructors then displayed the visual images along with PS scenarios during lecture and testing sessions at the PS bedside during standard didactic sessions with small groups of anesthesiology residents and informal resident testing sessions.

CONCLUSIONS: The use of echo images to demonstrate, in real time, the hemodynamic consequences of changes in myocardial contractility, cardiac chamber volume, and valvular function is possible during PS in anesthesiology residency training. Echo imaging as a teaching tool during anesthesiology residency may yield a greater understanding of the pathophysiology of certain disease states, ultimately leading to faster diagnosis and more appropriate intervention by anesthesiologists.