Focused cardiac ultrasound examination in the emergency and critical care horse: Training for non‐specialist veterinarians and evaluation of proficiency

BACKGROUND: Focused cardiac ultrasound examination (FoCUS) is rapidly emerging for point‐of‐care cardiac assessment using hand‐carried ultrasound (HCU) devices. A specific FoCUS protocol for horses and adequate training guidelines currently are not available. HYPOTHESIS: To gain knowledge about the training necessary to become proficient in performing FoCUS using a HCU device. ANIMALS: Three healthy Warmblood horses were used for practical training of veterinarians and veterinary students in equine focused cardiac ultrasound (eFoCUS). METHODS: Prospective educational study. An eFoCUS protocol and 1‐day training course were developed. Pre‐ and post‐course written tests were administered to participants to evaluate proficiency in knowledge of echocardiography and echocardiographic pathology. A post‐course practical examination involved performing eFoCUS and storage of representative images. Images were evaluated using an image quality score and compared between participants with some practical experience and participants with no practical experience. RESULTS: Participants' knowledge of echocardiography increased significantly. Recognition of echocardiographic pathology pre‐course ranged from 40% to 90% (mean score, 65.7%) and post‐course from 85% to 100% (mean score, 92%). Eighteen of 21 participants were proficient in performing eFoCUS with a median image quality score of 79% (range, 42%‐95%). Image quality did not differ between participants with some practical experience compared to participants with no experience. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Veterinarians and veterinary students independent of previous experience can become proficient in performing eFoCUS after completion of a 1‐day training course.