Echo – Western Sono

2016 Canadian Resuscitative Ultrasound Course – A Resounding Success

arntfield — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 19:59:27 +0000

With 72 learners, 25 faculty and 2.5 days of high intensity, resuscitative ultrasound training, the 2016 CRUS course outdid itself even this year. In addition to the usual features of the course like a flipped classroom curriculum (eliminating lectures altogether), 5 hours a day of practical training and a 2:1 learner to trainer bedside ratio, this course offered a new general simulation station (ultrasound integrated, of course), star studded local, national and international faculty and a showcase of the newest and most innovative ultrasound techniques and equipment. Also, this year, lunchtime Kahoot sessions and an optional third day was added to address the growing interest in learning advanced echocardiographic techniques to be applied at the point-of-care were exciting additions to our program.

A huge thank you to all those learners, faculty, vendors and staff (esp the CSTAR staff and Rebecca Rondinelli) for making this a memorable experience!

This scale of course can only happen once a year so mark your calendars for the 2017 course which will take place on August 17 and 18 2017. Keep tabs on this website for announcements or, if you would like to be emailed when course registration for 2017 opens, please email Tammy Mills at [email protected]

For some snaps of the course this year, see our gallery below.

2015 Critical Care Ultrasound Course – Open for Registration

arntfield — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 14:50:40 +0000

The 6th annual Western University Critical Care Ultrasound Course is now open for registration!

The brochure for the course can be found here CCUS 2015

The 2 day course, directed by Dr. Rob Arntfield, is being held on August 20th and Aug 21st, 2015 at University Hospital in London, Ontario and is the biggest, most comprehensive course of its kind offered in Canada. It is ideal for any clinician involved in resuscitation, such as intensivists, emergency physicians, general internists and anesthesiologists.

The course emphasizes resuscitative ultrasound in the following domains:

-critical care echocardiography
-lung and pleural ultrasound
-abdominal free fluid
-ultrasound guided vascular access (central, peripheral – incl PICC lines, arterial)
-DVT

See images from last year’s course here.

The course is designed to maximize time spent engaged in practical skills like scanning or practicing image interpretation:

-exceptional participant to faculty ratio of 2:1 for bedside scanning instruction
-lecture content made available online for self-study before course (available 4 weeks ahead of course)
-on day of course: very brief lectures with live demonstration reviewing contents from pre-course lectures
-Sono-social the first night of the course with dinner and live music!

Along with our talented local faculty, guest faculty this year include Drs. Bret Nelson (Mt Sinai, NYC), Pierre Kory (U of Wisonsin) and Scott Millington (U of Ottawa).

To register and for more details please go to this link: http://www.cvent.com/d/k4qtc2

The brochure for the course can be found here CCUS 2015

Contact [email protected] with any questions.

CCUS 2014: Biggest, best ultrasound course of its kind in Canada

arntfield — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 02:53:47 +0000

As far as critical care and resuscitative ultrasound courses go – this is the most state of the art, progressive and star-studded faculty-loaded course of its kind in Canada and, dare we say, North America. 2 full days of critical care ultrasound with a flipped classroom format, minimal lecture time and, for those short lectures we did include, high tech 3 screen display. The course also included a live session from Montreal demonstrating critical care echo, “in vivo” in the ICU environment on a real patient.

Some images of the course are below. A tremendous achievement for the faculty, for the WesternSono program and a really excellent demonstration of the sophistication and organizational abilities of CSTAR – the hosting facility and personnel in the University Hospital teaching space.

Stay tuned for CCUS 2015: August 20th and 21st 2015 here in London.

Advanced Critical Care Echo Handbook

arntfield — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:19:29 +0000

So you’re feeling comfortable with assessing LV function, RV function, the pericardium, the IVC and some basic valve stuff. What next? What should you focus on to take your critical care echo game to the next level?

For some inspiration, check out this handbook that Dr. Mark Tutschka (PGY5 – Critical Care) has put together. It is a nice, succinct guide to some of the advanced applications for echocardiography in the ICU that he (and I) feel are most valuable in the initial venture in to Doppler, grading regurgitation severity and some more quantitative analysis that will help with hemodynamics. It is by no means comprehensive but should whet your appetite for something more substantial, like a definitive echocardiography text or this excellent ICU echocardiography book.

The book can be easily bound in to a pocket-sized handbook. We have some here at Western if you’re interested in a free copy.