News – Western Sono

Introduction to ED Point of Care Ultrasound 2017

EmergGuy — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 20:59:43 +0000

The Division of Emergency Medicine is once again pleased to host its annual “Introduction to ED Point of Care Ultrasound” course on July 6th, 2017.

This course will emphasize fundamental techniques in image acquisition and interpretation and 7 indications of point of care ultrasound in the ED. Course content is aimed at practitioners who are beginning their pathway to competence in point of care ultrasound.

Topics covered will be:

Abdominal : Presence of intra-peritoneal fluid? (Yes/No)

Abdominal : Presence of abdominal aortic aneurysm? (Yes/No)

Subcostal Cardiac : Presence of pericardial fluid? (Yes/No) Cardiac activity during arrest? (Yes/No)

Pelvic : Presence of an intra-uterine pregnancy? (Yes/No)

Thoracic: Presence of pneumothorax (Yes/No) Presence of a pleural effusion (Yes/No)

The course will feature an outstanding faculty to learner ratio for hands-on sessions as well as innovative image interpretation sessions. These small group sessions emphasize image interpretation skills and serve as intimate venues to reinforce clinical integration pathways.

Course director is Dr. Heather Hames. Bedside instructors will include faculty from within the Division of EM’s experienced group of point of care sonographers.

If you have interest in attending as a participant please contact us via email at [email protected] (please include Emergency Course in subject line).

Last years course filled up quickly so please contact us if interested.

Some pics from our previous courses can be found here.

Introduction to ED Point of Care Ultrasound 2017

EmergGuy — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 17:50:59 +0000

The Division of Emergency Medicine is once again pleased to host its annual “Introduction to ED Point of Care Ultrasound” course on July 6th, 2017.

Topics covered will be:

Abdominal : Presence of intra-peritoneal fluid? (Yes/No)

Abdominal : Presence of abdominal aortic aneurysm? (Yes/No)

Subcostal Cardiac : Presence of pericardial fluid? (Yes/No) Cardiac activity during arrest? (Yes/No)

Pelvic : Presence of an intra-uterine pregnancy? (Yes/No)

Thoracic: Presence of pneumothorax (Yes/No) Presence of a pleural effusion (Yes/No)

Course director is Dr. Heather Hames. Bedside instructors will include faculty from within the Division of EM’s experienced group of point of care sonographers.

If you have interest in attending as a participant please contact us via email at [email protected] (please include Emergency Course in subject line).

Last years course filled up quickly so please contact us if interested.

Some pics from our previous courses can be found here.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound Featured on TV

arntfield — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 21:52:58 +0000

The innovation and leadership of Western University’s and LHSC’s Point-of-Care Ultrasound program recently garnered regional media attention. With leading programs in emergency medicine and critical care and emerging programs in anesthesia, internal medicine and surgery, the collaborative, interdisciplinary vision of our POCUS program is being actualized to the betterment of the patient and physician experience. See the news piece below or the full news story at this link.

[wpvideo S3urzShc]

The 2014 Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium: A Repeat Success!

arntfield — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 04:24:08 +0000

It is hard to believe that only one year ago we celebrated the success of the first ever Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium. This year’s symposium took place the weekend of August 23rd & 24th and was bigger and better than ever.

Hosted at the state of the art Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) facility, this two-day symposium provided medical students with an introduction to point of care ultrasound. The event was attended by 38 medical students from 6 medical schools across Canada. Extensive opportunity for “hands-on” skill development was a focus of the symposium. This practical component was enhanced by didactic teaching from local experts. The weekend was capped off with fierce competition and a showcase of ultrasound skills as participants attempted to take home the Western SONOGames Cup!

The first day began with an electrifying keynote address by Dr. Rob Arntfield. Dr. Chris Byrne, the founder of the 1st medical student ultrasound symposium, then gave participants an informative lecture highlighting the fundamentals of ultrasound. This was followed by exciting workshops on Cardiac and Lung ultrasound led by Dr. Rob Arntfield. Dr. Drew Thompson wrapped up a busy first day by leading the FAST and Obstetrical ultrasound workshops.

Day two began with an engaging lecture by Dr. Naveen Poonai highlighting the use of ultrasound in pediatric fracture localization and reduction. Dr. Drew Thompson then led instruction in Abdominal, Aorta and Hepatobilliary ultrasound. This was followed by an expanded session on ultrasound in Procedural Guidance, taught by Drs. Vishal Uppal, Jon Brookes and Rakesh Vijayashankar. The symposium concluded with fierce but friendly competition during our Western SONOGames, which included an expanded emergency medicine simulation station (led by Drs. Ouellette and Davis). Congratulations to this year’s SONOGames winners (see photo below) for clinching a close battle and taking home the hardware. The bragging rights are all yours!

Congratulations to the SONOGames winners!

We would like to extend a special thank-you to our corporate partners SonoSite Canada, Phillips Canada, and General Electric Canada for the donation of state-of-the-art ultrasound machines. The support of ultrasound machines and expertise was invaluable! We were also fortunate to have MedaPhor graciously provide a virtual-reality training system – ScanTrainer – for medical students to explore and hone their ultrasound skills. Finally, this weekend could also not have been a success without our standardized patient models who volunteered their time to support the event.

We are excited for the new academic year and what it will bring for PoCUS and undergraduate medical education. The experiences from this past weekend demonstrate that medicals students are ready to embrace point of care ultrasound and will seek it out additional instruction independently!

Below are some photos from the weekend with credit to Weiang Yan. Also find the members of the medical student planning committee whose tireless efforts cumulated in this weekend’s symposium and the faculty and residents whose enthusiasm and expertise in teaching made the weekend a success.

Thank you to everyone for your support as we look forward to 2015 and the making of the 3rd annual Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium!

Medical Student Planning Committee: Nick Packer (2015), David Mainprize (2015), Mike Clemente (2015), Weiang Yan (2015), Ryan McLarty (2015), Evan Ailon (2016), Josh Burley (2016), Justin Cottrell (2017), Craig Olmstead (2017).

Faculty & Resident Instructors: Robert Arntfield, Drew Thompson, Su Ganapathy, Chris Byrne, Rakesh Vijayashankar, Vishal Uppal, Ramiro Arellano, Dave Ouellette, Matt Davis, Sean Doran, Alberto Goffi, Pat Murphy, Amit Shah, Jon Brookes, Naveen Poonai, Roy Roebotham and Shoeb Ashan.

Point of Care Ultrasound – An Overview for Medical Students

arntfield — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 03:11:09 +0000

On August 24, Dr. Rob Arntfield kicked-off the inaugural Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium with this thought-provoking keynote address introducing participants to point of care ultrasound. The talk begins with a compelling case presentation and ultimately delivers an interesting and slightly iconoclastic overview of the current state of affairs with point of care ultrasound, its relevance to medical training and how on earth we got here.

Just Around the Corner: Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium

arntfield — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:25:01 +0000

Excitement surrounding the Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium is growing, with less than two weeks before the scanning begins. Below are some quick facts on the national event, which is the first of its kind accessible to Canadian medical students across the country:

To take place August 24 and August 25 at the state of the art Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics facility at London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ontario
Imagined and organized by a group of medical student leaders at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University
Recipient of the Hippocratic Council Innovator Grant and Canadian Federation of Medical Students Student Initiative Grant
Ultrasound equipment provided by SonoSite Canada and Philips Canada
Event officially endorsed by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
Nationally attended event, with 36 students (and a 20 person wait list) from 8 different Canadian medical schools participating
Over a dozen faculty and residents volunteering their time in support of the event
Special appearance by internationally recognized experts in bedside ultrasound, Matt Dawson and Mike Mallin
Primary goals:
(1) For participants to acquire new knowledge and skills proving useful in their future medical education and careers;
(2) To ignite a passion for bedside ultrasound that participants will share with colleagues at their home institutions; and
(3) To generate momentum for formally integrating more point-of-care ultrasound training in undergraduate curricula

To Canadian medical students: We do hope to make this an annual event. Consider following Western Sono on Twitter to ensure you’re one of the first to hear about next year’s symposium!

The medical student organizers of this year’s event have put together a comprehensive workbook that they hope serves as a valuable resource both during the symposium and beyond. Anyone can access this workbook by clicking on the image below. Be sure to return to Western Sono in early September for photos and a recap of the event.

Point-of-care Ultrasound: Hyperechoic future in medical education?

arntfield — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:09:34 +0000

The Point-of-care Ultrasound Interest Group reviews its inaugural year as a medical student club and makes a pitch for integrating more ultrasound training in to undergraduate medical education. We hope you enjoy the presentation!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DglswiaRdII&w=420&h=315]

Registration for Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium fills!

arntfield — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:52:51 +0000

Three weeks after opening up registration, the Point of Care Ultrasound Interest Group is happy to announce that all spaces have been filled for the inaugural Western Medical Student Ultrasound Symposium, to take place on August 24 and 25, 2013 in London. The event will bring 35 medical students from across Canada together, with representation from all six Ontario medical schools and as far away as the University of Calgary. Unregistered students who are interested in the symposium may still register on the wait list and will be notified should a spot become available. In addition, some volunteer roles for the symposium are available and any interested students or faculty can inquire at westernsono [at] gmail.com.

We would like to acknowledge the medical student planning committee, Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics, industry partners, and many enthusiastic faculty members from institutions across Canada for their contributions to this exciting educational initiative.

To stay on top of the latest in local and national efforts related to ultrasound in medical education, we encourage students to follow Western Sono on Twitter or Facebook. In addition, Western students may join the Point of Care Ultrasound Interest Group at the UWOmeds website. The group has two great events planned before the academic year wraps up.

Point of Care Ultrasound Interest Group wins innovator grant

arntfield — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 02:09:16 +0000

An application put forth by the Point of Care Ultrasound Interest Group was selected as a winner of the Hippocratic Council Innovator Grant last week. The funding will support a student-driven education initiative, in partnership with industry and faculty, that aims to bring hands on ultrasound training to undergraduate medical students at the Schulich School of Medicine at Western Univeristy. While details are still being finalized, an ultrasound-focused symposium is to take place in late August 2013 at the state of the art Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics. Congratulations to all involved in this exciting project!

The application for the innovator grant can be viewed below:

Ultrasound Fundamentals – self-directed learning module for ultrasound basics

arntfield — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:05:52 +0000

We are pleased to launch a new educational resource in the form of this interactive learning module on the fundamentals of point of care ultrasound. This module is appropriate for anyone new to the topic of point of care ultrasound, and we are hopeful it proves to be a solid foundation for further learning and hands-on training. In addition to providing an overview of the physics, knobology and instrumentation of ultrasound, the module also introduces learners to image acquisition and interpretation. Enjoy!