Intensive Care Curriculum & Assessments 2010
There are several changes to the number of required workplace assessments following development of the 2010 curriculum. Trainees who began ACCS prior to 2010 should consult their local deanery on which curriculum and assessment requirements they should follow. All trainees begining the ICM module from August 2010 should follow the 2010 curriculum & assessment schedule unless advised otherwise by their deanery. The pre-2010 curriculum and assessments can be found on the IBTICM website.
2010 documentation: The assessments are based on the 6 major presentations, 38 acute presentations and 44 practical procedures contained within the curriculum as well as certain speciality specific assessments intensive care. The minimum number of assessments are listed below alongside a more specific framework of assessment for intensive care, all of which are compulsory.
- Minimum number of assessments per 6 months: 3 Mini-CEX, 6 DOPs, 4 CbDs plus 1 MSF.
- Common competencies: ACCS trainees must achieve at lease level 2 in the common competencies throughout the initial 2 years of ACCS training
- Major presentations: 2x formative assessments (Mini-CEX or CbD) to be completed within ICM - ideally covering sepsis
- Acute presentations: No formal requirements to cover additional acute presentations are present in ICM though the trainee may cover any listed or non-listed topic to comlete the required work place assessments
- Practical procedures: 13 of the 44 listed practical procedures need to be covered while in intensive care using DOPs plus other WPA tools.
Additional Intensive Care Medicine competencies for ACCS:
Alongside covering the relevant common competencies, acute / major presentations and practical procedures while in ACCS, a trainee must cover the specific curriculum for ICM while in ACCS.
- Required additional ICM assessments:
- DOPs: (i) Peripheral venous cannulation; (ii) arterial cannulation; (iii) Placement of central venous catheter; (iv) Connects mechanical ventilator and selects initial settings
- Mini-CEX or DOPs: (i) Obtains an arterial blood gas sample safely, interprets results correctly
- Mini-CEX or CbD: (i) Prescribes safe use of vasoactive drugs and electrolytes
- CbDs: (i) Describes Safe Use of Drugs to Facilitate Mechanical Ventilation; (ii) Describes Principles of Monitoring Respiratory Function; (iii) Describes the Assessment of the patient with poor compliance during Ventilatory Support (‘fighting the ventilator’); (iv) Delivers a fluid challenge safely to an acutely unwell patient; (v) Describes actions required for accidental displacement of tracheal tube or tracheostomy
It is expected that all ACCS trainees will achieve Basic Level Competence as outlined by IBTICM during ACCS training. Used alongside the rest of the ACCS Curriculum, these ICM specialty specific competencies are designed to inform the IBTICM Basic Level Training Competency Document (Part 3). Assessment should be made using the work place based assessment tools described, as part of the overall process used to complete this documentation. A trainee completing more than three months of ICM are encouraged to complete some of the intermediate IBTICM competencies also, though these may not contribute to intermediate level competency assessments.
Further information on the intensive care curriculum can be found on the IBTICM website.