ULTRASOUND TRAINING - POINT OF CARE ULTRASOUND (POCUS) IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
Point of care ultrasound has now been imbedded into the new RCEM curriculum and starts at ACCS.
There are 6 modalities that need to be completed at specific stages in your training.
ACCS
• Ultrasound Guided Vascular Access (VA)
• Focused Echocardiography in Life Support (ELS)
Higher
In order to achieve competence in each modality you will need to:
The Full RCEM guidance can be found HERE
Point of care ultrasound has now been imbedded into the new RCEM curriculum and starts at ACCS.
There are 6 modalities that need to be completed at specific stages in your training.
ACCS
• Ultrasound Guided Vascular Access (VA)
- Ultrasound guided Fascia iliaca blocks
- Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST)
• Focused Echocardiography in Life Support (ELS)
Higher
- Shock assessment
In order to achieve competence in each modality you will need to:
- Complete the relevant RCEM learning modules
- Attend a practical teaching session
- Evidence your practice by compiling a logbook (suggested minimum number of scans per modality)
- Evidence your learning by use of reflection (5 reflections per modality minimum)
- Demonstrate competence with a DOPS assessment by a qualified supervisor.
The Full RCEM guidance can be found HERE
Completing the learning modules on RCEMlearning.
There are 9 modules and provide you with a certificate on completion. (Below are hyperlinks to the modules)
Ultrasound basics and image optimisation:
Ultrasound: Indications for ultrasound
Ultrasound: Physics and basic equipment settings
Ultrasound: Image acquisition
POCUS for ACCS:
Ultrasound: Skills of ultrasound guided vascular access
Ultrasound: Facia iliaca block
POCUS for Intermediate:
Ultrasound: Skills of carrying out focussed assessment in trauma (FAST)
Ultrasound: Skills of carrying out abdominal aortic aneurysm assessment (AAA)
Ultrasound: Echo in life support
POCUS for HST
Ultrasound: Assessment of patients in shock
Attending a course.
Myself, Will and Al run a yearly course in October. Be sure t check you emails for sign up details.
Many other these courses are run across the country but they can be difficult to track down and are very popular.
The RCEM run a course from time to time, check Here to see if there are any upcoming study days.
Bromely Courses are popular as they are run regularly throughout the year. Click Here to look at their upcoming dates.
Infomed run infrequent courses out of London and can be found Here.
Supervised practice
Once you have completed your course and gained the theory from the modules its now time to put your learning into practice. You should contact your department ultrasound lead who can discuss how to achieve supervision safely in the department. You can scan without being directly supervised but you should be saving your images for review by a level 1 accredited trainer.
Please read the departmental ultrasound governance document. You may discover incidental findings whilst scanning and these need to be managed appropriately. If you have any concerns about a finding or a patients scan when you are unsupervised please discuss this with the consultant on the day.
Keeping a logbook
You will need to log all your scans and build up evidence demonstrating that you are achieving competence. This is best achieved by creating an EXCEL spread sheet, an example should have been sent to you. Clearly the more you practice the better you will get however before you can demonstrate your competence in a DOPS assessment you will need at amass a logbook. The requirements of the make up of these can be found below:
It would be best to have all of these scans looked at by a level 1 trainer and most of these scans should be supervised.
You should save all your scans. This will allow you to easily review your scans and allow you to reflect on them at a later date.
You should save all your scans. This will allow you to easily review your scans and allow you to reflect on them at a later date.
DOPS assessment
Once you have completed the above and feel you are ready to demonstrate your competence you should contact a level 1 accredited trainer and ask for a DOPS assessment. If you are unsure who can complete your assessments ask the department ultrasound lead.
Continued practice and further training
Your ultrasound journey does not stop here, in order to demonstrate continued professional development you will need to demonstrate that you are keeping up to date, keeping a record of your scans will be paramount to this.
Each region will have an Ultrasound lead, In the Peninsula Deanery that is Dr Martin Dore, Based at the RDE.
If Ultrasound is your thing, then you can develop these skills further. There are options of PgCERT/MSc in Point of care ultrasound as well as regionally run courses such as FICE (Focussed intensive care echo), CUSIC (Thoracic ultrasound) and FEEL.
Once you have completed the above and feel you are ready to demonstrate your competence you should contact a level 1 accredited trainer and ask for a DOPS assessment. If you are unsure who can complete your assessments ask the department ultrasound lead.
Continued practice and further training
Your ultrasound journey does not stop here, in order to demonstrate continued professional development you will need to demonstrate that you are keeping up to date, keeping a record of your scans will be paramount to this.
Each region will have an Ultrasound lead, In the Peninsula Deanery that is Dr Martin Dore, Based at the RDE.
If Ultrasound is your thing, then you can develop these skills further. There are options of PgCERT/MSc in Point of care ultrasound as well as regionally run courses such as FICE (Focussed intensive care echo), CUSIC (Thoracic ultrasound) and FEEL.
RCEM Recommended structure for completing Pocus training:
