Emergency Medicine Ultrasound Curriculum

Fellowship Requirements

Scanning

The EM ultrasound fellow will successfully perform approximately 1000 focused, bedside ultrasound examinations during the one-year fellowship. Bedside scans will be performed during self-scheduled ultrasound shifts each month in the Valleywise Health Emergency Department. Throughout the fellowship, the EM ultrasound fellow will receive directed feedback concerning accuracy, image quality, and sonographic technique utilized for image acquisition and interpretation through video review. The fellow will learn how to integrate bedside ultrasound findings into the clinical management of their patients.

Teaching

The EM ultrasound fellow will participate in teaching EM attending physicians, residents, nurses, and medical students at Valleywise Health in emergency ultrasound. Throughout the year, the ultrasound directors and ultrasound fellow will conduct ultrasound QA/QI sessions to review the ultrasound database and provide directed feedback to the faculty, residents and medical students. The ultrasound fellow will have the opportunity to teach and lecture at a variety of courses and conferences during the fellowship year.  The fellow will also be involved in development of online and mobile educational platforms.

Research

The EM ultrasound fellow will be surrounded by national leaders in research and education. During the year, the fellow will design and conduct individualized research project for publication. An expert departmental research team will be available to assist in data collection and analysis. An application for IRB approval can, and should be, initiated in the spring prior to fellowship commencement. The fellow will be actively involved in the data collection and interpretation, along with manuscript preparation for their research project. The ultrasound fellow will also be actively involved in the ongoing EM resident ultrasound research projects at Valleywise Health. The fellow will be required to submit an abstract to one of the three major scientific meetings during their fellowship year: AIUM Annual Convention (June), SAEM Academic Assembly (May), or ACEP Scientific Assembly (October).

Administration

During the fellowship, the EM ultrasound fellow will learn about credentialing, billing, workflow, and process improvement. Bedside scans will be reviewed with the ultrasound directors with directed feedback to individual providers. The fellow will work alongside the EM ultrasound directors, hospital administration and IT to develop and manage workflow solutions for image archiving, retrieval, and documentation. The fellow will work with the ultrasound directors to build and improve the existing ultrasound image compendium used in our facilities. The fellow is expected to become familiar with the position statements and ultrasound guidelines from governing boards such as AMA, ACEP, SAEM, CORD, ACGME, and AIUM. The fellow will be trained on how to manage billing and coding for bedside, focused EM ultrasonography.

Affiliations

Creighton University School of Medicine (Phoenix)