Blog - Trainee Experience from Immersion

In a South East Endoscopy Training Academy hub site, an immersion in endoscopy is 1 or 2 weeks in which trainees have protected time to entirely focus on their skills in endoscopy.

These immersion periods include hands on training lists and non-technical skills sessions. Immersion periods are currently being offered to clinical endoscopists and doctors in postgraduate training for gastroenterology and surgery. 

Preparation

In terms of getting time off usual clinical duties this was simple. I was meant to be on-call on the Friday but the team arranged for someone to cover the on-call until 4pm when I re-joined the on-call team. I was released from the rest of the week with study leave. There was some e-learning to complete, which I had partially completed for OGD training, and probably took 2-3 hours total. 

The timetable

There was a good mix of theory sessions and practical sessions, with most time spent with "hands-on" teaching. There was a total of 5 lists over 4 days. The two days with both a.m. and p.m. lists were particularly tiring, if possible, it may have been better to aim for 1 list per day with a classroom/simulator session (but understand that this won't always be possible in an busy endoscopy department!). 

Things you found particularly useful

Spending time on a model with a standard colonoscope was particularly useful. It took all the other factors (being in a room with a patient, nurses, feeling a time pressure) out of the equation. It was also really helpful to be able to visually see what was happening to the scope inside the model to understand why certain movements resolve certain issues. 

We also found separating the procedure into sections and trying to focus on one part of the procedure per list helpful. It allowed me to really focus on the particular parts that I found difficult and work on these. 

Also just having a lot of time to talk about concepts with the same trainer through the whole week was really helpful, to get more of an understanding of the procedure. 

What did you want to learn and did you achieve it?

I didn't have any specific learning objectives prior to starting, other than wanting to get better. But by the end of the first day we had an idea of what I needed to work on. These were: tip control of the scope using index and middle finger to anchor the scope when needed, effective torque steering with both hands working together, and understanding of the patients positioning to help at certain stages of the procedure. 

I would say by the end of the week I was beginning to achieve these objectives, but I think they are really things that I will need to continue to work on for a number of months(/years). I have some clear objectives now though that I will be able to work on in my training lists. 

Would you want to do it again? Would you recommend it?

100% to both. Really great week, couldn't speak more highly of it. I would say however don't underestimate how tiring a week it can be!