Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Curriculum

Lecture Series

Emergency ultrasound topics are discussed during weekly conferences.

First quarter

• Emergency Ultrasound Quality Assurance
• The Practice of Emergency Ultrasound
• Ultrasound Physics – Basic
• Ultrasound in Trauma
• Procedural Guidance
• Echocardiography – Basic
• Ultrasound of the Abdominal Aorta

Second quarter

• Right Upper Quadrant Ultrasound
• Renal Ultrasound
• Pelvic Ultrasound
• Vascular/Duplex Ultrasound
• Male Genitourinary Ultrasound
• Soft Tissue Ultrasound
• Ocular Ultrasound

Third quarter

• Ultrasound Physics – Advanced
• Echocardiography – Advanced
• Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Blocks
• Abdominal Ultrasound – Pediatric Topics Included
• Ultrasound in Cardiac Arrest
• Ultrasound for Hypotension of Unknown Etiology
• Ultrasound in Dyspnea

Fourth quarter

• Administration of an Emergency Ultrasound Program
• Ultrasound Educational and Credentialing Standards
• Ultrasound and Information Systems
• Emergency Ultrasound Program Maintenance
• System-Wide Ultrasound
• Financial Aspects of Ultrasound Programs

Journal Club

Sessions held monthly. We review articles that examine basis for practice and “hot off the press” articles in emergency ultrasound.

Quality Assurance Rounds

Sessions include group ultrasound review for consistency in quality assurance. The feedback and callback process is an essential part of this educational endeavor.

Scanning Shifts

The ultrasound fellow will perform a minimum of 1,000 examinations through dedicated scanning shifts. This imaging will begin with primary indications early in the year and will become more advanced as earlier techniques are mastered. These dedicated shifts will allow the fellow to perform scanning and ultrasound-guided procedures. The minimum number should be four per month. Scanning shifts are separate from any clinical workload. Scanning will be performed with dedicated ultrasound faculty, and all examinations will be reviewed. Additional opportunities to perform ultrasound-guided procedures and techniques with known experts are included. These techniques will occur on an “on call” basis during the dedicated scanning shift. Optional but advised experiences are available with cardiology/the echo lab, intensive care medicine, the vascular lab, the ultrasound suite in radiology and the first trimester obstetric clinic with OB-GYN.

Teaching

The fellow will provide both didactic and hands-on education to various groups within the emergency department. These include but are not limited to:

• Emergency medicine residents
• Physician assistant/medical students
• Physicians – emergency medicine and subspecialties
• Physician assistants/nurse practitioners               
• High school and college students
• Other teaching opportunities: state and national conferences, simulation, wilderness and international medicine as available

Quality Assurance

The emergency ultrasound fellow will initially attend and assist in quality assurance rounds. During the year, this role will be expanded to lead this activity. The fellow will review greater than 1,000 images, which will include both still and video-archived images.

Administration

The emergency ultrasound fellow will be involved with a number of safety, administrative and other quality assurance procedures. These duties include:

• Physician credentialing
• Continuing education requirements
• Infectious disease procedures
• Division of point of care ultrasound meetings
• Instrument procurement and maintenance
• Coding and billing
• Information services and archiving
• Multidisciplinary interactions

Research/Publication

The emergency ultrasound fellow will complete a research project. This will include design, submission to the institutional review board, performance, composition and journal submission. The fellowship and research director will assist in the completion of this requirement. At least one case report is to be published during the fellowship year, and one conference presentation or teaching presentation should be followed to completion as well.

Conference Attendance

The emergency ultrasound fellow should attend at least one national conference which has dedicated ultrasound content. This may be combined with the presentation requirement if the fellow presents as well as attends.

Additional Opportunities

• Cardiology – echo lab and reading room
• Difficult vascular access education
• Obstetrics – additional first-trimester scanning
• Radiology ultrasound suite
• Vascular lab