"Additional research will address these and other future questions as we advance our knowledge within the sedation field," Dr. Lichtenstein said.
The curriculum will be subject to periodic review, Dr. Vargo said. "If this document remains static, we have not done a service to our patients or to those that we train," he said. As the techniques of sedation evolve, the curriculum will change to reflect the appropriate techniques and necessary competencies, he said.
As for implementation, "One of the ways to assess how this document is being used is through the training committees of the sponsoring societies," he noted. "This will give us a great opportunity to see where the needs are.
"One of the important aspects of this curriculum was that we tried to bring all the stakeholders in procedural sedation and gastrointestinal endoscopy together," Dr. Vargo said. The involvement of the Society for Gastroenterology Nurses was especially valuable, he noted. "When you are administering sedation to a patient, it is a physician and nurse team, and that really resonates in this document."
Neither Dr. Vargo nor Dr. Lichtenstein had any financial conflicts to disclose.