Emergency Ultrasound Elective

Elective Details

Training Program

EMED 9010

Overview

Over the past three decades, the clinical applications of ultrasound by emergency physicians has greatly expanded. Emergency Physicians have adopted ultrasound to advance the timely and accurate evaluation and treatment of the acute patient. In 2001 the first emergency medicine ultrasound training and credentialing guidelines was published. It is a broadly written document that divides ultrasound into abdominal, pelvic and cardiac applications, and describes the many uses of ultrasound in emergency practice. Since this landmark publication, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has mandated that performance and interpretation of ultrasound imaging is included in emergency medicine residency training.
The department of Emergency Medicine currently offers a 4-week ultrasound elective under the direction of Dr. Rajesh Geria. Dr. Geria has been educating and training faculty in bedside point of care ultrasound at our institution for several years. He feels medical students are at an ideal stage in their careers regardless of specialty choice to gain experience in bedside point of care ultrasound. The Emergency Department provides a perfect setting to learn these skills due to the vast variety of pathology and acuity seen on a daily basis. The elective is 90% hands-on scanning and bedside teaching. Students will be assigned to scan with various ultrasound core faculty during the month and also have a chance to independently scan. Independent scanning is a tool that we use to evaluate weekly progress. All students will be given required reading assignments throughout the rotation and will be required to take an online exam upon completion.

Educational Objectives

By the end of the rotation the student should have a solid understanding of the clinical indications, limitations, and scan protocols of the most common bedside point of care ultrasound applications performed in the emergency department. The student will learn basic ultrasound physics/knobology and become familiar with the operation of our department ultrasound machines and web based image archival system. Students will have the opportunity to learn ultrasound guided vascular access and pelvic ultrasound using state of the art gel phantom models with the goal of practicing on real patients after several practice sessions. The student will participate in weekly office based QA sessions where Dr. Geria reviews all ultrasound video from the department. During this time the student will have a chance to interpret normal anatomy, identify specific pathology and learn how the user could have better optimized the images. He/she will also get feedback on the scans they have performed the prior week.

The student is expected to gain comfort in image acquisition and interpretation of the core life-saving applications:
• Cardiac
• Pelvic
• Aorta
• FAST
• Vascular access

The student may also gain experience in the following non core time-saving applications:
• Gallbladder
• Renal
• DVT
• Soft tissue
• Ocular
• Testicular

** This rotation is only offered to 4th year medical students. It is only available in a 4-week block as the material to be covered is vast.

Please contact Diane Wormann at Diane.Wormann@rwjms.rutgers.edu, 732-235-8783, for more information about the course or the Registrar’s office at 732-235-4565 to register for the course. We expect this elective to fill up quickly. We offer space on a first come first serve basis.