ECMO 2023 ANNUAL MEETING ABSTRACTS 39th Annual Children's National Symposium: ECMO and the Advanced Therapies for Cardiac and Respiratory Failure, February 26-March 1, 2023. Also need to drop author abstract

Background: Pediatric extracorporeal membranous oxygenation (ECMO) management occurs in acute settings and involves critically ill children. Medical and surgical fellows often manage these patients, but prior residency training rarely provides sufficient ECMO knowledge. We sought to close this learning gap by implementing and assessing a novel, multimodal pediatric ECMO boot camp.Methods: Our ECMO boot camp was designed by the authors and implemented during a half-day session in August 2021 and again in August 2022. The curriculum included multiple educational modalities including didactics, hands-on circuit discussion, high-fidelity simulation, and a tabletop ECMO puzzle (Fig. 1A). Knowledge was assessed with pre-and post-tests. Participants also completed a post-boot camp confidence and feedback survey. Additional demographics information was collected for the 2022 participants, including department, PGY training year, and prior experience with ECMO.Results: 31 total participants completed the boot camp, including 12 critical care (pediatric, neonatal, and cardiovascular), 4 cardiology, 7 pediatric surgery, 6 cardiothoracic surgery, and 2 pediatric emergency medicine fellows (Fig. 1B). Pre-and post-tests demonstrated significant improvement in ECMO knowledge (Fig. 1C. 57.8% vs. 78.0%, p < 0.0001). All participants reported increased confidence in understanding ECMO circuits and troubleshooting ECMO emergencies. The tabletop ECMO puzzle and high-fidelity simulation sessions were often cited as the "most useful" portions of the boot camp. Participants additionally appreciated the inclusion of fellows from various clinical disciplines which allowed all learners to benefit from a diversity of perspectives.Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of establishing pediatric ECMO training for new surgical and medical fellows using a half-day boot camp at a single institution. The boot camp curriculum improved ECMO knowledge and increased learner confidence. The use of multiple educational modalities and the opportunity to work with fellows from other clinical disciplines were noted by many of the participants as strengths.