TY - JOUR T1 - Educational opportunities provided by a specialist pleural diseases clinic JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P4631 AU - Maryam Ahmed AU - Jane Whittingham AU - Helen E. Davies Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P4631.abstract N2 - Background Recent BTS guidelines strongly recommend the use of thoracic ultrasound (TUS) prior to any pleural procedure. With the instigation of the European Working Time Directive and speciality-based ward care, time for training in pleural interventions is limited despite it being a requisite in the UK training curriculum. Aim A weekly specialist pleural diseases clinic was established in May 2011 allowing dedicated clinic time for patients who require pleural intervention. The clinic also provides practical training for specialist respiratory trainees. Junior (FY, CMT) doctors were encouraged to attend and observe+/-perform pleural interventions in a closely supervised environment. Method A retrospective analysis of patients and trainees attending the clinic during its first 6 months (01/06/11-30/11/11). Results 134 patients were seen (mean 5, range 2-10 weekly), all patients had bilateral TUS. An average of 3 procedures was performed weekly. A respiratory registrar attended 80% of the clinics. Junior trainees were present for 65% of procedures. Respiratory trainees achieved the requisite numbers for RCR Level 1 competency after 5 (mean) clinics. Conclusion Development of a pleural disease clinic has contributed to an improvement in the training of junior doctors. Respiratory trainees are able to learn TUS on a 1:1 basis and be observed during acquisition of RCR level 1 competency. Didactic lectures and practical teaching sessions already exist for the junior doctors. This clinic enhances the hands-on training available providing dedicated patient-based opportunities. This is necessary to ensure all trainees gain proficiency in the core pleural procedures needed in general hospital medical practice. ER -