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Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Mentorship Program
May–October 2023
Continue your point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) learning and become more proficient in practice. This live, virtual course provides personalized POCUS training through expert mentorship to help internists solidify and advance skills, building on training received from a previous foundational POCUS course.
Registration will open in January 2023.
Virtual, Live Training
Grow your skills with ongoing hands-on, livestream remote video and mentored scanning sessions. Over the course of six months, live instruction will cover content personalized to your needs across five key POCUS skill areas, including pulmonary, cardiac, kidney, and bladder ultrasound; evaluation of abdomen for free fluid; and focused vascular evaluations of the lower extremity for deep venous thrombosis.
Expert-Led
Benefit from directly observed feedback and high-yield skills demonstrations. Clinical internal medicine POCUS experts across the country will share perspectives on clinical integration and work closely with you to answer your questions regarding practical implementation.
- Learning Objectives
- Is This Course Right For You?
- Faculty
- CME Information
- Prerequisites
- Ultrasound Equipment Requirements
- Registration Information
- Course Requirements
- Important Course Dates
- FAQs
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate ability to correctly acquire, interpret, and clinically integrate normal and abnormal ultrasound images for the following core internal medicine POCUS examinations:
- Pulmonary ultrasound
- Focused cardiac ultrasound
- Kidney and bladder ultrasound
- Evaluation of abdomen for free fluid
- Focused vascular evaluations of the lower extremity for deep venous thrombosis
- Demonstrate ability to troubleshoot commonly occurring problems in obtaining optimized images across multiple sonographic windows
- Describe nuances of clinical integration for various POCUS findings
- Generate a plan for personal implementation of internal medicine POCUS into local clinical practice and a plan for continual skill refinement
Is This Course Right For You?
Substrate
- You have sufficient POCUS knowledge and hands-on scanning experience to make remote training practical (See POCUS Mentorship Prerequisite Requirements)
AND
- You have sufficient familiarity with virtual meeting programs and a general willingness to help troubleshoot common connection/technological issues
Setup
- You have access to someone willing to serve as a scanning model using compatible ultrasound equipment in a quiet space with a reliable and robust internet connection. ( See Ultrasound Equipment Requirements)
Goals
- You have the drive/desire to incorporate POCUS into your practice but don’t have readily available POCUS mentors to help guide your learning.
AND/OR
- You prefer to practice your scanning skills outside the clinical environment to optimize the basics before scanning patients.
- You are practicing your scanning skills in the clinical environment and wish to accelerate your progress obtaining diagnostic quality images consistently.
- You would like targeted feedback on scans you are obtaining and customized practice sessions to work on your specific training needs.
- You would like targeted feedback on improving your techniques for teaching/training others.
The course may not be right for you if:
- You have no prior hands on scanning experience or have taken a course many years ago without regular practice (Are you able to include a link to the Prerequisites tab here?)
- You are looking for image overreading or purely image feedback without hands-on practice.
- You are looking for virtual consults/real-time scanning in the clinical environment to inform patient care.
- You have highly advanced or specialized ultrasound areas of focus outside of core Internal Medicine POCUS applications (e.g. ultrasound of the pancreas).
Faculty
David Tierney, MD, FACP
Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
Director, IMBUS Program
Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Education
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Minneapolis, MN
David Tierney, MD, FACP
Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
Director, IMBUS Program
Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Education
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Minneapolis, MN
David Tierney, MD FACP is an Internist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he has practiced since 2003. He is the Internal Medicine Residency Program Director and clinically works as a hospitalist and proceduralist. He is the founder and director of the Internal Medicine Bedside Ultrasound program (known as IMBUS) that has trained over 200 inpatient and outpatient internal medicine residents/faculty since its inception in 2010. He is also the founder and director of the Internal Medicine bedside procedure team and the Abbott Northwestern Center for Clinical Simulation (both established in 2006).
Michael Wagner, MD, FACP, FAIUM
Director of Internal Medicine Ultrasound
Division of Hospital Medicine
Prisma Health–Upstate
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville
Michael Wagner, MD, FACP, FAIUM
Director of Internal Medicine Ultrasound
Division of Hospital Medicine
Prisma Health–Upstate
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville
Michael Wagner, MD, FACP, FAIUM, is a general internist for Prisma Health-Upstate and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Greenville, SC. As the Director of Internal Medicine Ultrasound, he is responsible for coordinating and overseeing POCUS activities in the department of medicine across 6 medical campuses at the CME, GME, and UME level. Dr. Wagner is helping advance the field of IMPOCUS nation-wide through speaking engagements, hands-on workshops, online resources, publications, and serving in leadership positions for numerous medical organizations. Other professional areas of interest include physical diagnosis and clinical reasoning, simulation and bedside teaching.
Keith R. Barron, MD, FACP
Director, Internal Medicine Ultrasound
Assistant Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Prisma Health Midlands
Columbia, SC
Janice Boughton, MD, FACP, RDMS
Benjamin T. Galen, MD, FACP
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine (Hospital Medicine)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Associate Program Director and Director of Ultrasound and Procedure Training
The Einstein/Montefiore Internal Medicine Residency Program
Bronx, NY
Gigi Liu, MD, MSc, FACP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Director of POCUS Education, Osler Internal Medicine Residency
Hospitalist/Proceduralist/COVIDist
Division of Hospital Medicine
Department of Medicine
Department of Interventional Radiology
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Irene Ma, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FACP, RDMS, RDCS
Professor
John A. Buchanan Chair
Division of General Internal Medicine
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
Calgary Alberta Canada
Noelle Northcutt, MD, FACP
Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Anschutz
Director, Point of Care Ultrasound, Division of Hospital Medicine, Denver Health
Peter Phan, MD, FACP
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria
Kevin Piro, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
General Medicine Ultrasound Fellowship Director
Director of Internal Medicine Ultrasound Education
Division of Hospital Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR
Christopher J. Smith, MD, FACP
Associate Professor
Director of Point-of-Care Ultrasound
Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Hospital Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Kang Zhang, MD, FACP
Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Spokane, WA
Clinical Assistant Professor/Internal Medicine Clerkship Director Site Director, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine, Spokane, WA
CME Information
The American College of Physicians is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The American College of Physicians designates this live activity for a maximum of 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity
MOC Information
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 8 MOC points in medical knowledge in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credit claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
Prerequisites
In order to register, all participants must be a practicing physician and have completed one of the following courses:
- POCUS: Foundational Skills for Internists, April 2022, Chicago, IL (Internal Medicine Meeting 2022)
- POCUS: Advanced Skills for Outpatient Practice, April 2022, Chicago, IL (Internal Medicine Meeting 2022)
- POCUS: Foundational Skills for Internists, November 2021, Rosemont, IL
- POCUS: Advanced Skills for Outpatient Practice, November 2021, Rosemont, IL
- POCUS: Foundational Skills for Internists, November 2019, Rosemont, IL
- POCUS for Internists and Hospitalists, April 2019, Philadelphia, PA (Internal Medicine Meeting 2019)
- POCUS for Internists and Hospitalists, April 2018, New Orleans, LA (Internal Medicine Meeting 2018)
- An alternate 2-day course that included at least 50% hands-on scanning time. A certificate of completion and course agenda must be submitted to acppocus@acponline.org for approval.
Prior to the start of the course, participants will be required to complete ACP's POCUS Online Learning Modules.
Ultrasound Equipment Requirements
Learners should have access to one of the following:
- Philips Lumify and an active REACTS subscription – Limited Slots Available
- Butterfly iQ and active iQ subscripton - Limited Slots Available
- Laptop or Cart-based System
Laptop or Cart-based System
- If using a laptop or cart-based system, we recommend using a single brand/model for all sessions because sorting out the connection details for the live video feed is best done only once and will be necessary to test prior to registering.
- Your laptop or cart-based system must have "video-out" capability. That is typically accomplished by a video-out port on the back of the machine/cart in the form of an HDMI, DVI, or, less likely, a VGA port. Sometimes this port is hidden under a cover or involves connecting the laptop to a docking station. Most modern devices have video-out capability, however older machines may not be able to output the video feed live from the ultrasound and will not work for this course.
- For learners using cart-based/laptop ultrasound machines (not a Philips Lumify or Butterfly device), the interaction will require a laptop computer with 2 or more USB ports and video output via HDMI, VGA, or DVI
- ACP will provide a POCUS Connect Box (accessories needed to connect).
Registration Information
Registration Information will be available in January 2023.
Course Requirements
- Complete ACP’s POCUS Online Learning Modules, #1-6
- Complete a technical refresher quiz that will be sent to you approximately one month prior to the start of the course
- Attend a one-hour orientation session
- Participate in one 1-hour mentorship session per month, May through October. Note that there is flexibility in scheduling these sessions. You will coordinate with your mentor each month to determine a mutually convenient time.
- Participate in 2 Image Review Sessions
- Participants will be responsible for obtaining a live model to scan during the sessions. Live models will be required to sign an Ultrasound Model Waiver and this signed waiver should be emailed to acppocus@acponline.org prior to the start of the program. If using several different models throughout the program, each model will need to sign a release prior to their session.
Important Course Dates
Dates will be added in January 2023.
FAQs
Who is eligible to participate in the POCUS Mentorship Program?
Registrants of the POCUS Mentorship Program must have completed one of the following courses:
- ACP’s POCUS Foundational Skills for Internists
- ACP’s POCUS: Advanced Skills for Outpatient Practice
- An alternate 2-day course that included at least 50% hands-on instruction
When will my mentorship sessions be scheduled?
Using an interactive calendar, you’ll work with your mentors to schedule your sessions at a mutually convenient time.
What if I have a last minute conflict and am not able to participate in a scheduled mentor session?
If this happens, please contact your mentor and ACP at ACPPOCUS@acponline.org to reschedule your session. Reschedules will be limited to one per month.
Who can be an ultrasound model?
Anyone can. You can ask a medical student, resident, fellow, colleague, family member or friend. Just be sure that you obtain a completed Ultrasound Model Waiver from the individual serving as your ultrasound model and submit it to ACPPOCUS@acponline.org.
What type of ultrasound machines can be used?
Philips Lumify with a Reacts account
Butterfly iQ with an iQ account
Any cart-based system
Your laptop or cart-based system must have "video-out" capability. That is typically accomplished by a video-out port on the back of the machine/cart in the form of an HDMI, DVI, or VGA port. Sometimes this port is hidden under a cover or involves connecting the laptop to a docking station. Most devices have video-out capability, however older machines may not be able to output the video feed live from the ultrasound and will not work for this course.
For learners using cart-based/laptop ultrasound machines, the interaction during mentoring sessions will require a laptop computer with 2 or more USB ports and video output via HDMI, VGA, or DVI. Make sure that you can connect to the wireless or wired network at the location you’ll be during your mentoring sessions for internet access. Specifically, if you are using a personal laptop, you must assure that it can connect to the network in your hospital if that is where you plan on doing your mentored scanning sessions.
The laptop security should allow installation privileges for the ZOOM application.
Please ensure your machine is capable of video output by connecting the appropriate cable (DVI, HDMI, VGA) to the ultrasound machine and connecting the other end to a computer monitor or TV.
If using a laptop or cart-based system, ACP will provide a POCUS Connect Box (consisting of USB extender, DVI, USB, HDMI cables, webcam, adapter, and epiphan). Please provide the address where this box should be sent:
How do I set up my ultrasound unit for the course?
Instructions for the set-up will be sent to you approximately one month prior to the course.
How do I claim CME for this course?
Instructions on how to claim CME/MOC for this course will be sent to participants towards the end of the course. Up to 8 CME credits will be available for this course.
What if I’m not able to attend the Orientation Session?
The orientation session will be recorded and the recording will be made available to all registrants.
What if I’m not able to attend the Image Review Sessions?
The image review sessions will be recorded and the recording will be made available to all registrants.
Other questions?
Email ACPPOCUS@acponline.org