The Focused Cardiac Ultrasound Skill of Newly-Graduated Thai Doctors
Panupong Damgengkajornwong MD1, Praew Kotruchin MD2, Kamonwan Ianghong MD2, Chatlert Pongchaiyakul MD3
Affiliation : 1 Out-patient Department, Police General Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand 2 Department of Emergency Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand 3 Department of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Background : Focused cardiac ultrasound [FCU] is a bedside ultrasound protocol. It has emerged as a useful modality in
various clinical scenarios, particularly in those that involve acute cardiac conditions. However, the FCU skill of newly-
graduated doctors after a short training course has not yet been examined.
Objective : To determine the effectiveness of a short FCU training course for newly-graduated Thai doctors.
Materials and Methods : First-year intern doctors at Khon Kaen University’s Faculty of Medicine were enrolled. The three-
hour FCU training consisted of lectures and a hands-on echocardiography session. Examples of parasternal short axis [PSA],
long axis [PLA], subcostal [SC], pleural scanning [PS] and apical four-chamber [A4C] views were provided. After one month,
enrollees’ practical skills with regard to image quality and image acquisition time on real patients were evaluated
Results : There was a total of 70 participants, 45.7% of whom were male. The mean age was 24.6 years old. Eighty-seven
percent of participants passed the hands-on examination. The passage rates were 97.1% for SC, PSA, and PS views and
95.7% for the PLA view. The lowest passage rate was for the A4C view (92.8%).
Conclusion : The short FCU training course, which included lecture sessions and a hands-on session, was effective. Newly-
graduated doctors in Thailand should be trained in FCU in order to improve patient treatment
Keywords : Echocardiogram, Cardiac ultrasound, Training, Skill
