Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion

This program offers comprehensive, hands-on experience. Take individual courses, or earn the Certificate of Completion (COC) in Point-of-Care Ultrasound.
Program Requirements
(Must be completed within 3 years of starting the program; listed in recommended order of completion. Portfolio images must be generated and collected personally after attending one of the required live courses).
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Attend Ultrasonography: Essentials in Critical Care
Review key elements of point-of-care ultrasonography, and practice image acquisition on human models in this course featuring a special half-day track designed specifically for hospitalists. Hands-on, interactive sessions will focus on ultrasound images demonstrating normal and pathologic findings providing a comprehensive learning opportunity for the attendee. This course is offered three times per year at the CHEST Innovation, Simulation, and Training Center in Glenview, Illinois.
View all available course dates »
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Complete Online Learning Module: Bedside Ultrasound in Critical Care CAE Online
Supplement, strengthen, and refine your ultrasound coursework. Designed by frontline intensivist experts in ultrasonography, these interactive, multimedia e-learning tutorials review essential components of point-of-care ultrasound. Note: CME for Modules expired December 31, 2014.
Purchase the modules on the CHEST Store »
For questions about module access, please contact imaging@cae.com or 1-888-866-ICCU(4228) in North America, or 1-514-341-2000 ext 6521 for International.
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Enhance your practice by attending one of these approved regional 2-day courses.
- New York Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course – New York, NY (offered biannually). Next in-person course will be June 6-7, 2022. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required to participate in this course. Please contact LKurian@Northwell.edu for additional details.
- CHEST Critical Care Ultrasound: Integration Into Clinical Practice course – Chicago, IL (November 10-11, 2022)
- Hospital Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasonography – New York, NY (February & July – offered biannually)
- Point-of-Care Ultrasound Workshop – UT Health San Antonio CME Course – Next live in-person course will be on June 3-4, 2022, in Austin, TX.
- The Rocky Mountain Society of Hospital Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course – Denver, CO – Registration is open for the May 7-8, 2022, course.
- Point-of-Care Ultrasound (sponsored by the SHM Minnesota Chapter) – Minneapolis, MN. Please email Rachel.S.Stuart@healthpartners.com to be added to the mailing list for 2022 courses.
- POCUS for the Hospitalist – San Francisco. UCSF CME Course – San Francisco, CA (yearly, early November). Please contact Trevor.Jensen@ucsf.edu and Dawn.Bohlman@ucsf.edu for more details.
- POCUS for the Hospitalist – Honolulu. UCSF CME Course – Honolulu, HI (yearly, end of June). Please contact Trevor.Jensen@ucsf.edu and Dawn.Bohlman@ucsf.edu for more details.
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Complete Online Portfolio
After completion of one of the live ultrasound courses, you are eligible to enroll in the portfolio. The online portfolio requires submission of ultrasound video clips for review by faculty. Access to the portfolio will only be granted after completing a live course.
A key element to training in point-of-care ultrasonography is bedside scanning practice. To foster self-directed learning, you will be required to assemble a portfolio of specific images to be reviewed and approved by a faculty member via the internet. Expect a productive educational experience that will foster ongoing scanning practice and yield high-quality image acquisition. You will need to have access to an ultrasound machine with image storage capability. Images should be recorded and exported directly from an ultrasound machine to the online portfolio.
The emphasis for portfolio development will be on image quality. While specific examples of disease are not required, with the exception of lung and pleural images, abnormal images are welcome. You may submit all normal images. If you will be teaching point-of-care ultrasound to other providers, consider developing your own teaching file, and this portfolio can start that process.
This activity has been approved for CME and MOC points.
Purchase the portfolio in SHM's online store.
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Pass a Final Comprehensive Final Assessment
All previous requirements must be met before taking the final written and hands-on exam. Opportunities to complete the final assessments are offered during the SHM Annual Meeting and likely other conferences in the future. CME is not offered for the portfolio or the final assessment.
Please check back for the link to purchase the Exam Assessment.
Participants are required to complete the COC program within 3 years.
Target Audience
The Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion is designed for all health-care providers interested in improving their bedside ultrasound skills. The program is geared primarily toward providers who care for acutely-ill patients
- Hospitalists
- Internal medicine
- Family medicine
- Advanced Practice Providers
- Nurse practitioners
- Physician assistants
For more information:
education@hospitalmedicine.org
Image Portfolio Requirements
20 studies with the following views per study:
- Parasternal long-axis view
- Parasternal short-axis view at the mid-ventricle/papillary level
- Apical four-chamber view
- Subcostal four-chamber view
- Inferior vena cava longitudinal view
At least 25% of the images should be abnormal.
Five studies with the following image views per study:
- Normal sliding with A-lines
- Consolidation
- Pleural effusion
- B-lines
Five studies with the following image views per study:
- Right kidney longitudinal view with hepatorenal recess
- Left kidney longitudinal view with splenorenal space
- Abdominal aorta transverse view
- Abdominal aorta longitudinal view
- Bladder transverse view
- Bladder longitudinal view
- Ascites in right or left lower quadrant
Five studies with the following views per study
- Right common femoral vein
- Right common femoral vein – Greater saphenous vein junction
- Right femoral vein (superficial) – Deep femoral vein junction
- Right mid-/distal femoral vein (superficial)
- Right popliteal vein
- Left common femoral vein
- Left common femoral vein – Greater saphenous vein junction
- Left femoral vein (superficial) – Deep femoral vein junction
- Left mid-/distal femoral vein (superficial)
- Left popliteal vein
All images should be acquired in a transverse orientation and demonstrate compression at each level.
Two studies with the following image views per study
- Normal skin and subcutaneous tissue (thigh or abdominal wall)
- Cellulitis