Training facilities in gastrointestinal endoscopy: an animal model as an aid to learning endoscopic ultrasound

Apart from dedicated fellowships, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) training comprises "informal" methods, including EUS courses and the use of animal models. We have tried to determine the usefulness of a "hands-on" experience with a live animal model as a teaching strategy for EUS training. In 1997 and 2000 the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) sponsored hands-on EUS workshops using a live porcine model and participants in these courses were asked to complete a questionnaire about the course (2 years after the 1997 workshop and immediately after the 2000 workshop). The main outcome measurements were the usefulness and quality of the overall course and of the hands-on component in particular, and the effect on EUS practice patterns. Twenty of 38 attendees (53 %) responded to the survey administered 2 years after the 1997 course: 95 % thought the overall course was useful and 85 % valued the hands-on portion; 60 % of respondents had either started performing EUS or, if already experienced in EUS, had increased the number of EUS examinations and/or the complexity of EUS procedures they performed. Of the 34 participants who were at the 2000 ASGE course, over 90 % thought that the course enhanced their EUS skills and 88 % believed that they would be likely to perform EUS in the future. The study was limited in that it did not account for other methods of EUS training that could affect EUS practice patterns and also by the fact that not all the 1997 course participants responded to the questionnaire. In conclusion, live animal models may be a useful adjuctive method for learning EUS skills for the novice or the less experienced endosonographer.