Perlis, 20 June– The Malaysian Advanced Acute Internal Medicine and UltraSound Society (MAAIMUSS) organized the first National Ultrasound & Echocardiography Intermediate level Course online on June 19th, 2021, in collaboration with the College of Physicians, Academy of Medicine.

Organized under the patronage of the Raja Muda of Perlis DYTM Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, the College of Physicians, and the Ministry of Health, this initiative represents a first in the region.

With the country grappling with the COVID pandemic and ICU facilities stretched beyond limits, it was imperative that the latest information on battling the pandemic reached the frontliners. With knowledge on COVID changing by the day, immediate dissemination of knowledge and skills to battle this lethal and mutating virus reach our front liners. 

Just increasing the number of beds, equipment, hospitals and ward space is not enough in this brutal war. “Without the correct skillset and knowledge, our healthcare resources will not be utilised in the best manner to combat this virus.

“Skills and knowledge on how to detect deteriorating patients and early complications are equally if not more important than just the physical logistics” added the Tuanku Raja Muda of Perlis DYTM Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail. 

Although vaccination is gaining momentum, the mutating virus will unleash extreme damage upon Malaysians until herd immunity is reached. Increasing mechanical ventilators alone will not be the answer. The right skill set to identify correctly which patients are developing complications and the ones who are likely to require intensive care early is more critical.

With hospitals swamped with both COVID and non-COVID patients – it is essential that limited resources are optimized to the maximum. Ultrasound is a key weapon in our fight against COVID. It can prove lifesaving in allowing easy identification of COVID lung complications, cardiogenic shock, and blood clots in the veins which are frequent complications in COVID patients. 

This national hybrid training ultrasound event was themed “Ultrasound in the fight against COVID”  The programme was specially tailored to update physicians and medical officers on the latest techniques in Advanced Acute Internal Medicine (AAIM), including ultrasound imaging that is critically relevant to COVID-19.

The Health Director General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has been a strong advocate for this new field. Advanced Acute Internal Medicine is a key player in the efforts to fight COVID 19 due to the multifaceted skill set of the AAIM physicians.

The e-training portion caters to physicians from various internal medicine subspecialties in one single event on the Zoom platform and Google platform. “Physician-led ultrasound training and adoption of these skills will truly be a game-changer for helping patients directly on the battleground “ added the Raja Muda of Perlis, DYTM Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail. 

Professor Datuk Seri Dr. Paras Doshi, an Advanced Acute Medicine Consultant in Hospital Tuanku Fauziah, Perlis, states that “The movement restrictions due to COVID hampered efforts in fighting the pandemic on a national front.  However, necessity is the mother of invention.  Embracing technology and innovation, we will be able to engage with doctors even in the remote interiors of East Malaysia. In fact, for this round, we have strong participation from Sabah and Sarawak which desperately need to learn and equip themselves with the latest imaging skills to fight COVID.”

This follows a recent rollout of pocket-held ultrasound machines across the country to various hospitals. This type of imaging and ultrasound teaching is relatively new to the region and MAAIMUSS is spearheading its adoption nationwide. 

Phase 1 is being conducted virtually and will engage physicians from every corner of the country and will aim to have covered 150 doctors. Phase 1 of the training will be a Zoom webinar that will engage participants from all over the country. 

Each hospital and state has enlisted trainees as an effort to ensure that no region is left out. Phase 2 of the training will involve follow up training to be conducted on a regional level to minimise the movement of personnel across borders.

This will entail a massive exercise of identifying local trainers and ensuring that training objectives are aligned. Cloud-based facilities will be employed to ensure that images and videos can be monitored and assessed remotely. 

“This training strategy is the way forward as it kills multiple birds with one stone – training is facilitated quickly on a national level without compromising patient safety,” added Doshi, who is also the Vice President of the College Of Physicians Malaysia.

This initiative will encompass training for entry level physicians as well as those who have prior ultrasound exposure in a bid to disseminate the knowledge to as wide a field as possible.

Source:  New Malaysia Times