About Our Advanced Point-of-Care Ultrasound (Level 2) Course

What Does the Course Cover?

Our two-day programme includes a mixture of short lectures and plenty of hands-on scanning practice in the following areas:

• ECHO – we review the use of cardiac ultrasound in the acutely unstable patient and move on to look at the qualitative assessment of right heart and left heart function and introduce the assessment of wall motion abnormality.
• Lung – we review the phenomena observed in thoracic ultrasound and how these can help in the diagnosis of pneumonia, pulmonary oedema (and other conditions causing increased lung water), pneumothorax and pleural effusion.
• Shock – we explore the use of the RUSH protocol in assessing the non-trauma shocked patient
• DVT – we explore the use of three-point compression in the diagnosis of DVT
• Hepatobiliary – we explore the assessment of the gallbladder in cholecystitis
• Renal – we explore the diagnosis of hydronephrosis and the assessment of common abnormalities in the kidneys
• MSK – we explore the use of ultrasound in a number of regional nerve blocks, including fascia-iliaca block and serratus anterior block. We look at how ultrasound can improve haematoma blocks and how it can avoid the need for x-ray in the management of shoulder dislocation. We also explore cellulitis, abscesses, necrotising fasciitis and foreign bodies in ultrasound.
• Ophthalmic – we explore rapid diagnostic techniques in eye ultrasound particularly for retinal detachment and vitreous haemorrhage.

How is the Course Taught?

Each of the two days of the course consists of a programme of alternating presentations, including live demonstrations, with practical hands-on scanning. One day focuses on the heart, lung and shock; the other day focuses on hepatobiliary, kidney, DVT, musculoskeletal and eye scanning.

In advance of the course we encourage all candidates to ensure that they are-up-to- date with general PoCUS skills by using our online videos. On the course itself you will scan in small groups and individually on a range of normal subjects, scannable manikins and simulators. You will be supervised by experienced faculty from a range of different backgrounds. We have a faculty to staff ratio of about 1 to 4. We use 6 to 8 different PoCUS ultrasound systems and a range of handheld ultrasound devices. We use three state-of-the-art ultrasound simulators and a number of scannable manikins.

At the end of each half day we review the progress to that point through a quiz.

Why Take Our Level 2 Ultrasound Course?

You will learn the theoretical background behind how ultrasound can be used in each of the situations, the limitations and risks and how to rule-in important pathologies. You will also become familiar with all of the scanning technique involved by practising on a range of normal subjects and state-of-the-art simulators for pathology.