This course was begun in 1981, shortly after the first pediatric flexible bronchoscope was introduced to the market. Each year since then, the course has been offered virtually or in-person at least once. While the COVID-19 pandemic mandated a shift to virtual learning for 2020-2021, we have now returned to the traditional course format. Course attendees will enjoy an immersive, 4-day educational experience focusing on pediatric bronchology, including didactic sessions, small group case discussions, and intensive hands-on laboratories. The course will begin early on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 and end late on Friday, September 20, 2024. For those who are not able to join us in person, the online version of the course will also remain available

Course description

This course, now in its 44^th year, is an intensive, comprehensive introduction to pediatric bronchology and bronchoscopy. This includes in-person, hands-on technical training coupled with key didactics, case discussion, and faculty interactions. Lecture topics include indications for bronchoscopy, instrumentation, endoscopic anatomy, driving lessons, pathology of the upper and lower airways, anesthesia/sedation for pediatric bronchoscopy, the physiology of bronchoscopy, special techniques, bronchoalveolar lavage, the organization and operation of a pediatric bronchoscopy program, surgical pathology of the pediatric airways, pediatric laryngology/voice, rigid bronchoscopy, and a discussion of how the students can progress from this introduction to becoming experts. Video labs review selected videos of actual procedures, demonstrating the normal anatomy and variants, upper and lower airway pathology, and the cytology of BAL. The curriculum is liberally illustrated by video recordings taken from actual patient procedures, and is based on the cumulative clinical experience with more than 30,000 individual procedures.

The course is designed for novice bronchoscopists, although more experienced physicians often find the course of great value. Nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and/or respiratory therapists who will be involved as endoscopy assistants may also take the course. By the end of the course, the student should have a good working knowledge of pediatric airway anatomy, from the nose to segmental bronchi; be familiar with a wide range of pathologic conditions discoverable/manageable by bronchoscopy; understand the indications, risks, and benefits of bronchoscopy in pediatric patients; and understand the principles and practice of anesthesia/sedation for safe and effective bronchoscopy in pediatric patients.

In and of itself, this course will not adequately prepare anyone to independently perform bronchoscopy in pediatric patients; considerably more experience and training will be required. No representation will be made to the participant's institutions as to the achieved level of skill of any participant. The last lecture of the course addresses these issues and offers guidelines to future learning and skill development.

Organization of the In-Person course

The in-person course for 2024 is an immersive, four-day experience with lectures and hands-on training laboratories. The course will begin early on Tuesday, September 17th and end late on Friday, September 20th. Each day will consist of a mix of didactics, small group case-based discussions, hands-on procedural laboratories, and informal interactions with other learners and our faculty. All content available in the Online course will be presented at the in-person conference.

Organization of the Online course

The online curriculum is separated into a number of chapters, which should be accessed in sequence. Only the didactic content available in the in-person course is available in the online course. To assist the student in the learning process, we include a pre-test and a post-test to assess the knowledge gained and areas needing additional study. The pre-test must be taken before accessing the rest of the course material.

The material will be available for study by registered students for one year after the start.

A few comments about the technical aspects of the Online course

This course presentation is the result of many years’ work. Due to the unanticipated shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we utilized some of the recorded presentations from previous in-person courses to deliver online content. In some of these recordings (of the video labs), there was audience participation – it may be instructive to see how some previous students responded to questions, although you will have to imagine how you would have answered the questions posed. Some of the videos utilized in the presentations are from cases done many years ago, and the quality of the video recordings is not at a Hollywood level (none of them really are, in fact). We have kept these recordings, because they present highly educational features, despite their age and quality. Over the years, both video recording technology and the image quality of flexible bronchoscopes have undergone impressive improvements… Many of the recordings have been edited for clarity and brevity. Do not expect every bronchoscopy to look like these! Some of the recordings have deliberately not been edited (for such things as coping with secretions, etc.), and are more realistic – some even may be tedious to watch. While bronchoscopy can be exciting, it can also be tedious. In the operating room, we always say that we hope that the procedure will be boring… excitement should be the result of seeing interesting things, not because of a problem…

A personal word from Dr. Wood

My presentations are based on my personal experience. That experience has been highly influenced by my patient population, which in turn has been determined by the institutions in which I have practiced. Your experience will be different, as you will almost surely have a different patient population. It has been my goal to prepare you as best I can for the things you are most likely to encounter, as well as for some of the unusual findings you will see. Please, THINK, and remember the amorous porcupines… always be very careful… and pay close attention to the last presentation, on the philosophy of bronchoscopy. I have tried to share with you not only the interesting things, but also I have related to you many of the mistakes I have made over the years. The wise person learns from the mistakes and experience of others – be wise!

As you progress through the presentations, you will encounter some duplication of content. In most cases this is deliberate – there are some things that are of sufficient importance that they bear repetition. Some repetition may be inadvertent, but it’s still important stuff, so grin and bear it 🙂