Teaching and training in ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia

Abstract

The widespread adoption of ultrasound in regional anaesthesia has profoundly changed both clinical practice and the way this field should be taught. The current challenge is not merely the availability of more blocks or approaches, but preventing the growing number of variants and terms from leading to fragmented learning and inconsistent clinical decision-making. From this standpoint, competence should be viewed as the integration of clinical judgement, evidence-informed selection, pharmacological knowledge, safe technical performance, proper documentation, patient communication, and follow-up. Within such a framework, simulation should occupy a central place in training pathways not only during residency, but also in the continuing education of professionals involved in regional anaesthesia, because it supports competency-based progression and allows more objective assessment of learning outcomes. Accreditation processes promoted by scientific societies may help standardise practice, provided that adequate educational resources and teaching capacity are available for real implementation. In high-pressure clinical settings with frequent staff turnover, standardisation of training and care processes does not oppose clinical individualisation, but rather makes it safer, more reproducible, and better adapted to each patient’s characteristics.