Teach Endoscopy - pool noodles and cadavers

What is it about?

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) sometimes place a long, thin camera, called an endoscope, through a patient's nose, to see the back of the throat. In this way, SLPs can examine a patient's vocal folds and ability to swallow food and liquid. Teaching graduate students how to "pass the scope" on a patient is complicated, and is not always practical on a college campus. In this new teaching method, we passed the scope down the center of a pool noodle embedded with trinkets, and progressed on to scoping a cadaver. Students developed their skills with the scope and built confidence before working with live patients.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

As many as half of SLPs work with swallowing disorders. Knowing how to use the endoscope is a growing part of our field, and students really want opportunities to learn it. However, their biggest fear is that they will inadvertently hurt a patient while learning. This "pool noodle protocol" takes the fear out of it, allowing the students to learn in a low-stakes, fun manner.

Perspectives