Hospitals across the globe are increasingly investing in Intelligent Ultrasound’s BabyWorks to enhance bedside neonatal ultrasound training. Notable institutions like UNMC and Southmead Hospital are leading the way, utilising this advanced simulator to provide hands-on learning opportunities in a safe and controlled environment.
UNMC Expands its Clinical Simulation Program into Infant Ultrasound
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) has invested in the BabyWorks ultrasound simulator, to expand its clinical simulation program into bedside ultrasound for infants. BabyWorks will provide the centre with a realistic, risk-free training tool to practise probe manipulation on an infant, and access to train on infant pathologies not otherwise available.
Samantha Rogers, CHSOS, the manager of iEXCEL Clinical Simulation Program at UNMC, shared that the program already has BodyWorks and HeartWorks simulators, used in medical training programs from emergency medicine to anaesthesia residency, and it made sense to take the next step in their learning centre with the addition of BabyWorks.
The Importance of Advanced Simulators
“We specialise in hands-on learning and simulation education. We have a large simulation centre and ultrasound has become a huge focus. When we were introduced to BabyWorks, it really made sense to take the next step and be one of the early adopters of ultrasound for infants since we have such an ultrasound-focused facility.” Samantha Rogers, CHSOS
Dr. Jared T. Marx, the ultrasound director for the emergency department and fellowship director for Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasound, explained that without a simulator, training on bedside ultrasound involves either training on actual patients or standardised patients (specialists trained to portray patient scenarios). However, this poses obvious challenges for infant cases and access to pathologies are limited.
“I think it’s the same thing when investing in any simulator, you can’t create pathologies that aren’t well represented without advanced simulators. Getting people trained to see and recognise that pathology is important so that when it comes to clinical care, they’re prepared for it.”
Southmead Hospital Invests in BabyWorks to Teach Bedside Ultrasound for Neonates
On the other hand, Southmead Hospital Bristol has also invested in the BabyWorks simulator to support hands-on teaching in bedside ultrasound for neonatology trainees in the south-west region. BabyWorks will allow trainees on the neonatal wards to develop skills in Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) and echocardiography in a risk-free supportive environment.
Southmead Hospital is a regional tertiary centre and joint-lead centre for the northern sector of the Southwest Neonatal Network. In addition to internal training, the department has set up a regional training course using BabyWorks, designed around hands-on learning in neonatal PoCUS.
Benefits of Simulation-Based Learning
Dr David Evans MBE, Consultant Neonatologist & Director of Medical Education shared “The problem is that it takes people quite a while to just get the hand-eye coordination and the right views, and it’s quite difficult to learn on babies because they’ll start protesting, they get cold, and they’re being disturbed. So, it is very useful to get people to practise on a simulator.”
BabyWorks allows trainees to learn probe manipulation, viewing windows, and ultrasound image interpretation in a supported environment, without the pressures of clinical practice. This allows trainees to build confidence and technique to apply to real-life scanning, so when training in-clinic they can maximise time and reduce the stress to the infant.
“It means that they’re not rushing when they are scanning a baby,” explained Dr Amiel Billetop, Consultant Neonatologist. “When scanning an infant, they have a lot of external factors that they’re worrying about at the same time as trying to scan. If they’ve already practised in a simulated way on a manikin, then they can maximise their time scanning the infant.”
Dr Evans added “The manikin also means you are able to slow down and unpick what they’re doing during the examination, because you can’t do that when scanning a real baby as that would prolong the examination, which would be at the detriment of the baby. The 3D models and the simulations offered with BabyWorks provide that ability to move offline if you like, and to explore just how you get the standard views.”
Overcoming Traditional Training Limitations
Prior to this, training centred around textbook-based learning, hands-on training on the neonatal unit and attending external courses. However, cases were limited by those which presented on the unit, and external courses were mainly centred around an older paediatric or adult patient population.
Dr Evans explained “People were going off on courses and were quite enthused coming back. But when they tried to scan a baby, and particularly preterm babies, they realised the views weren’t as easily obtained, the heart was beating much quicker, and the babies were less tolerant to being examined because of the cold stress, and so I think they got dispirited quite quickly.”
To fill this learning need, Southmead Hospital set up NeoBUS – Neonatal Bedside Ultrasound Course, using a mixture of hands-on learning with BabyWorks, and demonstrations using real babies. In the past, the department had run a cranial ultrasound course which was mainly lecture-based with limited demonstration at the cot-side, however, current learning requirements of neonatologists have much broader applications. With the addition of BabyWorks, the NeoBUS course focuses on the practical application of bedside ultrasonography of the heart, lungs and abdomen in neonates, and is open to ST4+ trainees throughout the region.
“I think it’s relatively easy to teach cranial ultrasound because you don’t disturb the babies as much and the image isn’t moving, the baby might move but the actual image isn’t moving” explained Dr Evans. “But the challenge is that clinically to be a neonatologist now you need to have some skills in being able to assess some function of the heart. Many of the courses that trainees went on were often aimed more at paediatric cardiology and they would inevitably use older subjects for demonstration, and I think that’s fine for paediatric cardiology, but for babies it’s very different.”
Dr Billetop described how BabyWorks allowed the program to teach the wider applications of PoCUS. “Cardiac is a big feature, and it’s a large reason why trainees want to come on the course, but it’s not the only skill that they want to take away with them. They want to explore abdominal ultrasound, cranial and renal, and BabyWorks allowed us that variety.”
About Intelligent Ultrasound BabyWorks
All in all, BabyWorks allows trainees to develop crucial skills in Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) and echocardiography without the pressures of clinical practice, ensuring better preparedness and confidence when dealing with real neonatal cases. This investment marks a significant step forward in medical education and patient care.
If you are thinking about involving BabyWorks in your training sessions, find out more from our page now: bmec.asia/th/intelligent-ultrasound
More Information
Intelligent Ultrasound | https://www.intelligentultrasound.com/2022/10/05/unmc-invests-in-babyworks/ ; https://www.intelligentultrasound.com/2023/06/12/southmead-hospital-invests-in-babyworks/
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