The Student Room Group

Ultrasound

Hey all,
does anyone have any ideas of ultrasound courses. i feel i really lack any knowledge in using USS and i think it could be very helpful esp as i currently have an itu job and its kinda expected. i struggle to see anything or even orientate myself with the probe. has anyone been on a course that has helped with this?
on the theme of courses i was also hoping to do a course/diploma in jan. i am an fy3 and feel it would help my confidence but also be a bit of a very much needed cv boost. do any of you have any idea to recommend- i know some of these courses are very expensive so if possible something on the less expensive side!!
any advice would be fab. im really struggling as an fy3... i wanted to use the year to boost my cv and i feel i have just wasted time. in quite a bad place tbh so would love a bit of guidance xx
Reply 1
Avatar for Wolfy^
Wolfy^
16
I don't know of any courses (I'm sure others will help with this), but as a new Radiology trainee I can share a bit of my experience.

Ultrasound is hard. Getting used to using your equipment properly (adjusting the settings), figuring out scanning techniques, positioning patients appropriately and even knowing where to put the probe to look for stuff like the left kidney (never where you expect it when you start out!) all take time. And when you have sort of grasped those things, you also have to be able to look at different grey blobs and figure out what you're looking at and more importantly, what pathology looks like.

The one solution to get better at all of the above is... scanning people. The more you do it, the better you get. Instead of signing up for a course run over a limited period of time, why not go to your Radiology department and speak to the Sonographers or Radiologists (depending on who does the scanning)? From my experience, they would be happy to have you sit in on one of their lists. That way, you get someone teaching you 1-on-1 and you can get practical experience scanning real patients with real-time feedback. As a bonus point, you get to see pathology as well.

Sure, there's no certificate at the end of it but I'd reckon you can get better at US this way than attending a course. And it's free (apart from the time investment).

On the other hand, consider why you want to learn US. If it's just because of your ITU job, you probably won't need to know how to scan a full abdomen or testes/gynae. You'll need more straightforward things like vascular (for your central lines and tricky cannulas) and scanning to look for pleural effusions. Echocardiography is a separate beast altogether and from my experience, the ITU consultants usually do a quick 'how crap is their heart really' scan before getting a formal one with all the fancy measurements.

TL;DR
If you want to learn US in general, your Radiology department is probably a good first place to try.
If you want a certificate to put on your CV, a course will probably be your best bet.
If you want to get better at using US in ITU, there is a lot to learn from your consultants/registrars/ACCPs and just by picking the probe up and scanning patients.
FUSIC is probably what you want to do, which also includes echo.

https://www.ics.ac.uk/ICS/FUSIC/FUSIC_Accreditation/ICS/FUSIC/FUSIC_Accreditation.aspx?hkey=03ef026c-cd0c-4bba-9555-8c85bb220b01
Yeah there are courses about. Not cheap mind.

It'll probably be hard to maintain the skill without regular practice though, I'd have thought? Its a shame, and very surprising, that ultrasound doesn't play a bigger part in the medical curriculum.
Reply 4
Avatar for Anonymous #1
Anonymous #1
OP
Original post by Wolfy^
I don't know of any courses (I'm sure others will help with this), but as a new Radiology trainee I can share a bit of my experience.

Ultrasound is hard. Getting used to using your equipment properly (adjusting the settings), figuring out scanning techniques, positioning patients appropriately and even knowing where to put the probe to look for stuff like the left kidney (never where you expect it when you start out!) all take time. And when you have sort of grasped those things, you also have to be able to look at different grey blobs and figure out what you're looking at and more importantly, what pathology looks like.

The one solution to get better at all of the above is... scanning people. The more you do it, the better you get. Instead of signing up for a course run over a limited period of time, why not go to your Radiology department and speak to the Sonographers or Radiologists (depending on who does the scanning)? From my experience, they would be happy to have you sit in on one of their lists. That way, you get someone teaching you 1-on-1 and you can get practical experience scanning real patients with real-time feedback. As a bonus point, you get to see pathology as well.

Sure, there's no certificate at the end of it but I'd reckon you can get better at US this way than attending a course. And it's free (apart from the time investment).

On the other hand, consider why you want to learn US. If it's just because of your ITU job, you probably won't need to know how to scan a full abdomen or testes/gynae. You'll need more straightforward things like vascular (for your central lines and tricky cannulas) and scanning to look for pleural effusions. Echocardiography is a separate beast altogether and from my experience, the ITU consultants usually do a quick 'how crap is their heart really' scan before getting a formal one with all the fancy measurements.

TL;DR
If you want to learn US in general, your Radiology department is probably a good first place to try.
If you want a certificate to put on your CV, a course will probably be your best bet.
If you want to get better at using US in ITU, there is a lot to learn from your consultants/registrars/ACCPs and just by picking the probe up and scanning patients.

Thank you so much for this- really helpful. I guess I want to learn USS skills for a variety of reasons- my current job yes but I think I will apply to ACCS so it will be useful in the future. I want to be able to do lines independently. I also had a renal job as an f2 and saw a number of biopsies but had no idea what I was looking at!
It would be nice to at least feel confident holding a probe... and understand what depth, etc means...
I agree and think it should be covered more in the undergrad curriculum. It is such a useful bedside tool and easily accessible.
But thank you- speaking to a radiologist is a good idea and just asking one of the other experienced drs to help me out

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Reply 5
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Anonymous #1
OP
Original post by Spencer Wells

I'll have a look- thanks

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