Recommendations for the content and conduct of European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) musculoskeletal ultrasound courses

Abstract

Objective:To develop education guidelines for the conduct of future European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) courses.Methods:We undertook a consensus-based, iterative process using two consecutive questionnaires sent to 29 senior ultrasonographer rheumatologists who comprised the faculty of the 14th EULAR ultrasound course (June 2007). The first questionnaire encompassed the following issues: type of MSUS educational model; course timing; course curriculum; course duration; number of participants per teacher in practical sessions; time spent on hands-on sessions; and the requirements and/or restrictions for attendance at the courses. The second questionnaire consisted of questions related to areas where consensus had not been achieved in the first questionnaire, and to the topics and pathologies to be assigned to different educational levels.Results:The response rate was 82.7% from the first questionnaire and 87.5% from the second questionnaire. The respondents were from 11 European countries. The group consensus on guidelines and curriculum was for a three-level education model (basic, intermediate and advanced) with timing and location related to the annual EULAR Congresses. The topics and pathologies to be included in each course were agreed. The course duration will be 20 h. There will be a maximum of six participants per teacher and 50–60% of total time will be spent on practical sessions. There was also agreement on prerequisite experience before attending the intermediate and advanced courses.Conclusion:We have developed European agreed guidelines for the content and conduct of EULAR ultrasound courses, which may also be recommended to national and local MSUS training programmes.

Becoming a musculoskeletal ultrasonographer

“…These have contributed to the development of essential issues, MSUS training method and competency assessment in rheumatology [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. More recently, training in ultrasound-guided injections for rheumatologists among countries has been tested and results demonstrated that the percentage of rheumatologists receiving training in the field is <10% in over 70% of countries that participated in the survey [32].…”

“…In 2007, the rheumatologists (from 11 European countries) who make up the faculty giving these courses developed educational guidelines for the content and conduct of EULAR ultrasound courses; these are recommended for national and local MSUS training programmes. They might also be useful for standardising rheumatology MSUS training worldwide [31].…”

“…The musculoskeletal pathologies included in the MSUS training curriculum for rheumatologists according to the recommendations for the content and conduct of EULAR MSUS courses are listed in Table 1 [31]. They are classified in three levels of training: basic, intermediate and advanced.…”

Using ultrasound to image the foot in rheumatoid arthritis: current understanding, challenges and future scope

“…This has reinforced the need for adequate training by rheumatologists to learn the techniques in order to improve their clinical practice [3]. As such, models to support the learning needs of rheumatologists in the use of US have been devised in Europe and the USA [3,84,85]. Additionally, the uptake of US by other nonmedical clinicians, such as rheumatology specialist nurses, physiotherapists and podiatrists, is gaining recognition [2].…”

EFSUMB COMPASS for Rheumatologists dissemination and implementation – an international survey.

“…In 2012 a working group was created under the umbrella of The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB), with the mission of developing a competency assessment system for rheumatologists in MSUS. This competency assessment was based on an already existing EFSUMB competency assessment for musculoskeletal ultrasound in general [1,2], on the recommendations for the curriculum of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) MSUS courses [3] and on a consensus of the working group.…”