Live sharp-needle regional anesthesia demonstrations

This has been found to be an exceptionally effective teaching tool. Live sharp needle demonstrations have been a tradition at the University of Iowa since 2000 started by Dr. Andre Boezaart. The current RASCI director Dr. Robert Raw has experience of regularly presenting live sharp needle demonstrations for 10 years in the USA, Mexico and South Africa. 

            The models are un-sedated and only receive subcutaneous lidocaine (lignocaine) to diminish the discomfort of dermis puncture with nerve-block needles.   Deeper tissues are un-anesthetized and no other drugs are injected except for 5% dextrose water for ultrasound imaging purposes. To date 100% of models used, request to be a model again and no complication of note has ever occurred.

            This reality-show demonstration has real challenges, and seeing the lecturer need to concentrate and adapt to unexpected unique anatomy variations in front of an audience has added educational value. Also seeing real live nerve blocks closes the gap between some hard to explain concepts and complete understanding of ideas.

            Visual images are retained longer in the memory than mental images created from words only.

            The live sharp needle demonstration also proves the lecturer is speaking from personal experience and not hypothetical text book knowledge. 

A picture paints a thousand words in 2-D. A live demonstration paints a million words in 3-D.