FEES Foundation course
October 3rd-5th 2019

The  Foundation FEES Course is a 2-day long basic course taught by Dr. Susan Langmore and MS Trish Cavanagh. We welcome SLPs with various levels of FEES experience - from no experience to those who are routinely using FEES.  Most of the attendees have experience in performing modified barium swallow studies and are ready to add FEES to their daily practice.  Many SLP graduate students also attend, since these courses are a fantastic complement to their graduate training.  Physicians often come as a SLP-MD team, which is an excellent model because they are able to learn from each other both at the FEES course and subsequently in daily practice.

The course entails 13 hours of lecture and covers the basics of FEES: the anatomy and physiology of swallowing seen endoscopically, FEES protocols, scoring examinations, and using endoscopy as a treatment tool. Case studies and scoring practice are included. Many videos are displayed during lecture so that the participants can view first-hand what is being discussed in lecture.  

An extremely valuable part of the course is the third day: 4 hours of hands-on training where the participants will have practice passing the endoscope to each other under the direct mentorship of experienced speech pathologists. A range of FEES systems allows participants to test various types of equipment. The typical participant will have 5-8 mentored passes of the laryngoscope so that the initial level of comfort and skill can be attained.  The hands on practice is performed in rotating small groups where technique and expert coaching are prioritized over rapid insertion and removal of the endoscope. We can only take the first 30 enrolled participants to this day 

Day one October 3rd 2019

Location: Tampere-talo, Sonaatti 2, 0 floor

8.00 Registration
8.30 Anatomy and the normal swallow: what can be seen endoscopically and fluoroscopically
9.30 Indications for a FEES exam vs. a fluoroscopy exam
10.00 Coffee break (provided)
10.30 The FEES Protocols: Standard protocol and Ice chip protocol, FEESST protocols. 
12.00 Lunch (provided)
13.30  Scoring the FEES Examination - Part I Findings
Coffee break (provided)
15.30 Scoring an Exam - Part II Findings
16.30 Scoring practise

Day two October 4th 2019

Location: Tampere-talo, Sonaatti 2, 0 floor

8.00 Treatment strategies: Using FEES to Guide Treatment
9.30 Coffee break (provided)
10.00 FEES in various clinical settings (ICU, inpatient, etc);
Scoring practice
Case studies
12.00 Lunch
13.00 Aspiration pneumonia
14.00 Coffee break (provided)
14.30 Implementing FEES in your setting; training, risks/safety issues
15.30 Questions, closing remarks


Day three October 5th 2019

Location: Tampere University Hospital, ENT-clinic

Please notice that we can only take first 30 participants to hands-on day

9.00-13.00

4hrs of hands-on practice in small rotation groups.
Passing the endoscope on other participants
Refreshments provided

 Print program