Breathing, Obstruction, Restriction, and Gas Exchange: A Pulmonary Function Testing Interpretation Framework for Novice Learners

Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is a common method of assessing patients with respiratory symptoms, yet exposure to PFT is variable throughout medical training. Therefore, incorporating a dedicated approach to teaching PFT into the formal medical education curriculum can ensure that trainees become familiar with both the relevant physiologic principles involved in interpreting PFT results and the indications for performing PFT in clinical practice. In this “How I Teach” article, we present breathing, obstruction, restriction, and gas exchange (BORG), a novel, small-group workshop designed to teach novice learners a sequential framework for PFT interpretation. The BORG workshop comprises two segments: a whiteboard minilecture that illustrates the BORG framework and a case-based worksheet whereby learners apply this approach to sets of PFTs with increasing difficulty. Our workshop is grounded in two cognitive psychology frameworks: the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the dual-process theory. We provide three figures and four supplementary videos to illustrate our workshop’s design and delivery, as well as both learner and instructor versions of our BORG worksheet. Last, we address three PFT concepts that have challenged us as instructors and provide evidence-based teaching scripts. The BORG workshop can be used by medical educators working with medical students and residents as a means of helping learners progress along the continuum from a basic understanding of spirometry to independent analysis and interpretation of PFTs to application of PFT results to medical decision making.