ULTRASOUND PROGRAM

Departmental Philosophy
Point-of-care (POC) ultrasound is an exceptionally valuable tool for use at the bedside. Like a stethoscope, the meaning of clinical findings are largely determined by user experience and knowledge. Our department encourages medical staff to appropriately employ POC ultrasound to aid in patient care. Our POC ultrasound philosophy favours competency-based scanning over credentialism.

Ultrasound Program
Our formal ultrasound training program is modularised and incorporates seven subjects:
1. Abdominal (including eFAST, gall bladder and AAA)
2. Respiratory (including APO, pneumonia, paediatric pneumonia, pleural effusion, and US-guided thoracocentesis)
3. Retroperitoneal and DVT (including kidneys, bladder, lower limb DVT, US-guided vascular access)
4. Basic cardiac (including haemodynamic assessment [IVC/RAP estimation, LV volume, LV systolic function, RV function])
5. Advanced cardiac (including an introduction to colour doppler valvular assessment, tamponade and other advanced functions)
6. Special cardiac (aortic root/thoracic aortic assessment)
7. Integrated multi-organ ultrasound (including ultrasound for undifferentiated shock)

The clinical lead for ultrasound is Thomas Brough. Additional training support is available upon request.