Background Many medical trainees report difficulty in gaining experience in pleural procedures since the introduction of thoracic ultrasound; combined with increasing ward pressures and competition for procedures.

We sought to increase trainee exposure to pleural procedures by commencing a ‘pleural procedures’ Whatsapp group. With Respiratory registrars as the group administrators it allowed them to communicate with trainees regarding both planned and ad hoc pleural procedures, on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

Method In August 2017 we distributed a structured questionnaire to Core Medical Trainees (CMT), n=25, in a large teaching hospital to ascertain experience and confidence in pleural procedures. With trainees’ consent and local information governance approval, a Whatsapp group was created and trainees were alerted via this when procedures were available. We re-surveyed group members in March 2018 to ascertain if there was any change in their pleural procedure exposure and confidence.

Results Pre Whatsapp results showed that 100% of surveyed trainees felt they did not have enough exposure to pleural procedures, citing reasons such as those mentioned above.

Trainees were then asked to rate their confidence with various pleural procedures on a scale of 1–10; with 1 being not confident at all, and 10 being very confident.

Average confidence ratings comparison 91% of surveyed trainees felt the Whatsapp group was a useful training tool to increase procedure experience, and 100% wanted other CMT curriculum procedures to be offered via this method.

Conclusion Our survey revealed that overall trainee confidence in performing pleural procedures had increased following membership to a dedicated Whatsapp group. Trainees felt that the Whatsapp application was an effective medium of communicating the availability of pleural procedures; which subsequently enhanced training progression and therefore the quality of patient care. Furthermore, there was an appetite to expand such a model to include other core CMT procedures.