Student Survey After Ten Years of Continuous Blended Teaching of Echocardiocraphy

Abstract Aims: The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of 10 years of blended learning in echocardiography. Methods and results: A total of 140 of 210 medical doctors who graduated from our teaching program from 2011 to 2020 responded to the survey. Among them, 53,57% were anesthesiologists and 26,42% intensivists. More than 85% of respondents indicated that the online period met their expectations, and 70,2% that the hands on practice met the objectives. Posterior to the Diploma there was a significant increase in the frequency of use of echo compared to before the Diploma, both in transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, from 24,29% to 40,71% and from 13,57% to 27,86%, respectively. The echo was applied mainly in the perioperative period (56,7%) and in intensive care (32,3%), and only in 11% of cases it was used in emergency units. Additionally, 92,4% of respondents revealed that it was very useful in their subsequent professional practice and 92,47% that it helped them in the interpretation of echo reports. Among the strengths they highlighted ‘the theoretical content, clinical cases, hands on activity and the teaching staff’. Among the weaknesses, 50% requested a practice period lasting more than one week. Conclusion: The blended learning of echocardiography over a decade has been satisfactorily evaluated by the graduated specialists and has been related to a significant increase in its use in the perioperative period and in intensive care. The main challenges are to establish a longer period of practice and achieve greater scope in Emergency Medicine.