Bringing The Difficult Airway Course: Residency Edition to Brazil

The Difficult Airway Course made its way to Brazil, providing a unique learning experience to a new audience.

Bringing the Course to Brazil was a long process, but it all came together in June.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved in residency education in South America,” said David Caro, Co-Director of The Difficult Airway Course: Residency Edition.

Currently, Emergency Medicine in Brazil is not at the same place it is in the United States. Being able to bring this course and educate a new crop of residents and medical professionals does not just expand the reach of The Difficult Airway Course, it spreads pertinent information when it comes to airway management.

“The US is 50 years ahead of Brazil in terms of EM recognition as a specialty,” explained Diego Amoroso, a resident in Emergency Medicine who played a critical role in bringing the course to the country. “That’s a big honor to us, to be responsible for bringing this kind of essential knowledge to our students.”

Director for Residency Programs Jennifer Beightol added that Brazil itself is an underserved market where doctors don’t receive the same training. The preparation for this course was much different than for ones that take place in the U.S., as faculty found themselves working with different budgets, materials, and more. Everyone went the extra mile just to make sure everything could come together. The payoff, however, was well worth the work.

“It wasn’t just the course,” Beightol said. “But to give the materials and training to more people, it felt like a ripple in the water because we knew were enabling them to have something new.”

Because this is a new specialty in Brazil, Caro said he found that many of the students were driving their own education. In fact, the passion behind the students was a major factor in the course’s success. They exceeded expectations for many of the faculty.

“The trainees were hungry for information, had already read through the entire course manual, and came prepared with very good questions that allowed us to accelerate into truly advanced topics that we weren’t sure we were going to be able to cover in the course,” Caro said. “Outstanding, from top to bottom.”

Amoroso also saw the dedication the students brought to the table, and thought it translated directly into what they got out of the course. He said one of his favorite moments was seeing students open their minds and reach new heights.

“The students realised that airway management is way beyond anatomy and mechanical skills,” he said. “They learned how to think outside the box and individualise every single case they manage in drug choices, optimisation and timing for the intubation.”

With the success of the program in Brazil, faculty is already excited to see what’s next. Taking The Difficult Airway Course across the seas provides new educational opportunities, and it also gives students and faculty new means to collaborate, network, improve the standard of care, and form new friendships in different corners of the world.

“We’re excited to be part of the growth of The Difficult Airway Course into residency training worldwide!” Caro said.