DenverEM - Ultrasound Fellowship

ULTRASOUND FELLOWSHIP

The Ultrasound Fellowship at Denver Health Medical Center (DHMC) is a one year curriculum designed to train emergency physicians to be leaders in emergency ultrasound. It is built on the foundation years of clinical excellence in bedside ultrasound use, research and educational publications related to emergency ultrasound, and a faculty that is dedicated to the principle that ultrasound is part of every emergency physician's clinical practice.

Fellowship Components

There are four primary components to the emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at DHMC. First, the fellow will become proficient in the primary as well as the extended applications for emergency ultrasound. This will prepare the fellow to become an excellent sonologist. Clinical and scanning shifts will take place at DHMC, a Level 1 trauma center with a diverse and high-acuity patient population. The Emergency Department at DHMC has state of the art ultrasound machines which the fellow will be trained on. Currently, there are 6 ultrasound machines in the Emergency Department: 4 that are cart-based units and 2 that are hand-held. A full compliment of transducers for these machines are also available, including 3 linear transducers, 3 endocavitary transducers, 4 sector transducers with Doppler capabilities, and 4 curvilinear transducers.

A second component of the Ultrasound Fellowship will be exposing the fellow to varied teaching opportunities. These include lectures to emergency medicine residents, attendings, and students who are doing the ultrasound elective. As well, the fellow will be able to hone their bedside ultrasound teaching during scanning shifts. Fellows will also have opportunities to participate in ultrasound courses given locally, regionally, and nationally.

The third component to the Ultrasound Fellowship is scholarly activity. The fellow will be expected to formulate, initiate, and complete two original research projects. In order to accomplish this, the fellow will have access to a rich clinical environment, a research associate program, statistical support, and attending staff with strong academic backgrounds.

The final aspect of the fellowship program is devoted to administrative education. The fellow will learn how to set up, direct, and manage an ultrasound CQI program. They also will learn about the unique aspects of emergency ultrasound privileging and how to implement it in different practice environments. They will learn about ultrasound billing and how to set up a successful program. Lastly, the fellow will learn about the intricacies of inter-specialty relations pertaining to emergency ultrasound.