The ABC's of ABGs: Teaching Arterial Blood Gases to Adult Learners

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The interpretation of arterial blood gases is often taught in different ways by different physicians. The purpose of this teaching tool is to provide a consistent, thorough, and efficient technique to interpret arterial blood gases in order to reduce teacher variability in how students and residents learn this important topic. Methods This resource contains two 1-hour sessions and may be used with students who have been instructed on the basic pathophysiology of acid-base disturbances. The first session serves as a review and covers topics such as gathering necessary data (e.g., results of basic metabolic panel and ABG), measuring pH, determining primary etiology, determining whether any primary respiratory disorders are acute or chronic, and calculating the anion gap. During the second session students then identify concomitant disorders and determine the ultimate cause of the metabolic issue. This resource also contains a series of practice questions that allows students to review this the topic of arterial blood gasses outside of the classroom setting. Results We have successfully implemented this teaching tool by giving two 1-hour lectures to third-year medical students during their internal medicine clerkship. Discussion In our experience, the key to preventing students from feeling overwhelmed by the content is to clearly explain the objectives for each session, and the key to promoting a strong learning climate during each session is to allow students to ask questions.

Keywords

• Metabolic Acidosis
• Arterial Blood Gas
• Metabolic Alkalosis
• Anion Gap
• Acid-Base Equilibrium