Ultrasound Residency
Bedside ultrasound is an integral component to resident education at MetroHealth. We have a longitudinal curriculum that will engage residents throughout their residency with a goal of teaching basic and advanced ultrasound as well as clinical integration of bedside ultrasound. We also provide ultrasound education to off service residents who wish to improve their patient care through ultrasound.
Emergency Medicine Residency
This program is designed to serve the needs of highly qualified and motivated residents. Our diverse faculty and excellent support staff make this a remarkably strong training program.
Emergency Residents
Ultrasound Intern Course
The ultrasound intern course is a 1-day crash course in emergency ultrasound. The goal of this day is to provide a foundation in ultrasound machine usage and scanning indications, protocols and interpretation.
EM Intern Rotation
The intern rotation is a three-week rotation providing intensive didactic and hands-on exposure to point-of-care ultrasound. The following ultrasound exams will be covered: eFAST, 1st trimester, aorta, renal, gallbladder, lower extremity DVT, musculoskeletal, ocular, soft tissue, echo, ultrasound-guided vascular access.
EM 3rd Year Elective
The 3rd year elective is a 1 week rotation providing didactic and hands-on exposure to advanced ultrasound applications. The flexible format allows residents to teach ultrasound as well as focus attention to enhance both performance and interpretive skills of specific ultrasound applications. Residents are generally paired with ultrasound faculty for one-on-one learning. If you are interested in a 3rd year elective, please contact mtabbut@metrohealth.org at least 1 month in advance.
Ultrasound Track
The ultrasound resident track is designed to provide residents with a particular interest in ultrasound a greater degree of involvement and additional educational opportunities. Residents who complete the requirements of the ultrasound track will graduate with a special designation in bedside ultrasound.
Ultrasound Milestones
Ultrasound milestones are a standardized way to assess resident progress in their ultrasound education.
Can perform basic ultrasound machine operations. Chose proper transducers, settings. Makes adjustments to depth/gain. Basic understanding of different ultrasound modes. Can describe where to place and how to hold the transducer to visualize anatomical structures. Can recognize and identify basic anatomical structures. Understands basic terminology. Can recognize basic, important ultrasound artifacts and how to mitigate them. Residents should achieve level 1 by the end of the ultrasound intern course.
Understands indications for emergency ultrasound. Able to perform basic emergency ultrasound applications and integrate with binary decision making. Includes FAST, AAA, Renal, Gallbladder, Soft tissue fluid collections, ECHO for pericardial effusion and cardiac activity, Basic lung applications, 1st Trimester, DVT. Residents should achieve level 2 by the end of the EM intern rotation.
Can consistently acquire quality images for basic EUS applications on routine patients and usually acquires good quality images on more difficult patients. Can perform ultrasound guided vascular access procedures. Can perform ultrasound guided drainage of large fluid collections – ascites, thoracentesis, paracentesis. Recognizes normal sonographic variants that mimic disease. Completes 200 ultrasound studies. Residents should achieve level 3 prior to the completion of their residency.
Able to incorporate more complicated decision making using ultrasound as a practical tool. Able to perform more advanced EUS imaging – ocular, scrotal, adnexal, advanced abdominal, pediatric, MSK, advanced ECHO, physiologic assessment. Can performed ultrasound guided reginal anesthesia. Completes 300 ultrasound studies. Residents who participate in the ultrasound track should complete level 4 and begin working on level 5.
Participates in teaching ultrasound to other learners. Participates in ultrasound quality assurance activities. Participates in ultrasound research. Adds continually to ultrasound knowledge base – may include TEE, TCD and other emerging applications. Completes 400 ultrasound studies.
Off Service Elective
We offer a one-month elective rotation to off-service medical students, residents and fellows. This rotation consists of intensive didactic and hands-on exposure to point-of-care ultrasound.
After completing the rotation, learners will be able to perform ultrasound machine operations, probe selection, understand image acquisition techniques, understand indications for bedside ultrasound, and perform basic bedside ultrasound applications (including FAST, AAA, Renal, Gallbladder, Soft tissue, ECHO, Lung, 1st Trimester and DVT).
If you have any questions or are interested in the elective please contact us.
Rotating on ultrasound requires a Program Letter of Agreement (PLA). Please check with your GME office to ensure that your institution has a PLA with MetroHealth. If no PLA exists, please have your GME office contact us at gme@metrohealth.org.
Contact Us
For further information, please email gmeemergencymed@metrohealth.org or call the program coordinator at 216-778-5088.
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