Ok so, you’ve tried some basic ultrasound. You’ve watched a few lectures. You know how to use your gain and depth buttons, but you want to learn more. Well, you’re in the right place. Here you can find helpful info for taking your ultrasound skills to the next level. Enjoy the ultrasound goodness below!
Moving Beyond Basics
SonoMojo Learning Modules:
SonoMojo’s FOAM-based ultrasound curriculum modules cover a wide range of ultrasound topics. We’ve collected all the best of ultrasound FOAMed (free online access to medical education) into one place. They’re broken down into modules by topic, so pick a topic and dive in! You can visit the page HERE.
Listen to Ultrasound Podcast:
If you’ve gone over everything from the Ultrasound Podcast, you’ll be in good shape. It’s a great resource and there’s always new content being posted. Plus, it’s hilariously entertaining. You can find it HERE.
Follow US Masters on Twitter:
Follow the masters of Ultrasound on Twitter. Get the daily ultrasound tips and stay up to date on the latest in ultrasound. Check out who we suggest on our US Resources page HERE.
Quiz Yourself:
Take ACEP’s online ultrasound quizzes. They are a great way to assess where you are, identify what needs work, and learn some ultrasound in the process. They are not easy quizzes and cover a rang of topics, so be prepared to be challenged. If you can pass these, you know you’re doing something right. They can be found HERE.
Visit These Ultrasound Websites:
We’ve collected the ultrasound websites we’ve found most useful in one place, on our US Resource page HERE.
Read Ultrasound iBooks:
We’re a little biased, but Introduction to Bedside Ultrasound (Volumes 1&2) is a great place to start/the best ultrasound book ever! It can be found on iTunes & it’s free (can be found HERE).
Go to Castlefest:
Seriously, go to Castlfest! It’s taught by the best of the best in ultrasound! If you’re a medical student, you can apply to for a limited number of visiting scholar ultrasound model spots. If you’re already a physician, register and attend Castlefest!! Their held in the Spring in an actual Castle! Honestly, how can you beat that?! More info about Castlefest can be found HERE.
Go to the World Congress on Ultrasound in Medical Education
There are a ton of hands-on training sessions at WUCME and it comes with all the posters and presentations of a scientific conference. You’ll get plugged into the ultrasound community, learn some awesome ultrasound skills, and hang out with ultrasound peeps from all over the world! It’s hard to beat the goodness that is WCUME. Info about WCUME can be found HERE.
Ultrasound Leadership Academy… By Far the Best Way to Become Awesome!!
Ultrasound leadership academy (ULA) is an advanced online ultrasound education program. It’s a year long fellowship and by far the BEST way to become an ultrasound guru. ULA includes a complete year of didactics, your own personal hand held ultrasound during the course, a personal sonosim system with simulated ultrasound cases during the course (see here), free registration for any teaching event by ULA founders (Castlefest, Alaskafest, etc) and weekly image review & instruction from a live instructor via google hangouts. It is taught by the BEST of the BEST in bedside ultrasound. We’re talking Matt Dawson, Mike Malin, Mike Stone, Vicky Noble, Canadians (also know as Maxime and Jean-Francoise of EGLS), and more! It also offers >100 hrs of CME. While it’s not cheap, it’s the best quality education out there! Plus, you can sit for your RDMS (registered diagnostic medical sonographer) exam after completing a 1 year formal ultrasound training program (so you can back up your skills with some credentials). More information about the ULA can be found HERE.
Tips for Learning Ultrasound at Ultrasound Naive Institutions
“Learning Ultrasound as a Med Student at an Ultrasound-Naive Institution”
by Jennifer Cotton
Ultrasound Competency
SDOTs
Know your SDOTs (Standardized Direct Observation Tool). They are a form used to evaluate ultrasound competence. If you can meet these criteria, then you’re on the right track. You can find more info on them HERE.
Keep a Record Your of Work
Demonstrate your experience by keeping a record of it. Document how many scans you’ve done and how much time you’ve put into learning ultrasound. If you’re a physician, record these for your RDMS exam credentialing. If you’re a student, ditto for the RDMS exam and to know/document for residency applications. It’s easy. Just create a Google Form and add a link to the home screen of your mobile devices. When you complete a scan, tap the home screen icon, fill out the form (15 seconds max), and submit. Google forms will automatically log all your scans into a spread sheet and keep a record for you. The same goes for logging hours. Learn more about Google Forms HERE.
Sample: Ultrasound Scans Log & Sample: Ultrasound Hours Log