Emergency Ultrasound Medical Student Elective

We are very excited about our elective in Emergency Ultrasound. Over the past decade, the clinical application of ultrasound by emergency physicians has greatly expanded. Emergency Physicians have adopted ultrasound to advance the timely and accurate evaluation and treatment of the acute patient. In 1994 the first emergency medicine ultrasound curriculum was published. It is a broadly written document that divides ultrasound into abdominal, pelvic and cardiac applications, and describes the many uses of ultrasound in emergency practice. Since this landmark publication, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has mandated that performance and interpretation of ultrasound imaging is included in emergency medicine residency training. While the quality of this training varies from residency to residency, one this is clear: nearly all EM residencies have added formal education in ultrasound in their curriculum, and

emergency ultrasound is here to stay.

Dr. J Christian Fox, has completed an EM Ultrasound Fellowship and is a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS). He performs bedside teaching of ultrasound skills to EM attendings, fellows, and residents. He lectures frequently and holds weekly QA reviews of all ultrasounds preformed in the ED. Dr Fox is enthusiastic to include students in this education, and thus has developed this ultrasound elective. The Department of Emergency Medicine looks forward to enhancing the education of medical students with this new elective.

Rotation Description

Students will be required to complete enough clinical shifts with Dr. Fox in order to perform a minimum of 100 bedside ultrasounds on ED patients. Students will be supervised by Dr Fox, who will instruct them at the bedside on proper ultrasound techniques and interpretation. Indications for ED ultrasound, limitations, knobology, and image acquisition will be emphasized. The following applications of ED ultrasound include: Cardiac, Gallbladder, Renal, Aorta, Testicular, Endovaginal, FAST, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Ultrasound Guided Procedures. All students will get the opportunity to perform these ultrasounds. Students will be required to keep a log of ultrasounds performed, and follow up on confirmatory studies obtained. All ultrasounds performed are videotaped in their entirety. Students will be required to attend the 5 hour QA session held each week by Dr. Fox, at which time the videotapes are reviewed. During the QA sessions, the students will learn to interpret normal ultrasound findings, pathology and image quality/technique.

If you would like to know what other student have said about this rotation, please click here.

Educational Objectives

At the end of this ultrasound rotation, the student will be able to:

1. Understand the basic knowledge of ultrasound
2. Recognize indications for an ED bedside ultrasound.
3. Perform bedside ultrasound of the heart, abdomen, pelvis, and extremities.
4. Obtain classic “windows” of each of the above bedside applications in a timely fashion.
5. Read and interpret limited ED bedside ultrasounds.

NOTE: The rotation is a minimum of 2 weeks. However, most students find that 4 weeks provides them with a much more solid skill set.

In order to schedule the rotation, first email Dr. Fox with potential dates at jfox@uci.edu