Fastest Way To Learn Point Of Care Ultrasound and Best Book For Getting Started In Point Of Care Ultrasound

All primary care physicians can benefit their patients by becoming  skilled in the performance and interpretation of ultrasound. What follows are some outstanding YouTube videos on how to perform and interpret bedside ultrasound exam.

The best way to start learning bedside ultrasound is to get access to a scanner and then hire a skilled ultrasound tech to help you learn. This is what I did and it will help you quickly advance your skills at a relatively low cost.

I strongly advise that you purchase and download  Essentials of Point-of-Care Ultrasound by Dr. Steve Socransky. This is the book to get started very quickly. Ask the ultrasound tech you hire as your coach to teach to this text as point of care ultrasound scans (POCUS) use different protocols from those used in the ultrasound laboratory.

From the i-Tunes page of Essentials of Point of Care Ultrasound:

This book is available for download with iBooks ($14.99) on your Mac or iOS device. Multi-touch books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device. Books with interactive features may work best on an iOS device. iBooks on your Mac requires OS X 10.9 or later.

When clinicians first began investigating the possibility of using ultrasound themselves, a big secret was concealed from them: image interpretation is easy. The real challenge is image generation: putting the image on the screen. Before The EDE Courses, physicians learned image generation mostly by trial and error. EDE brought a rigorous methodology to the scanning of each area of the body, dramatically reducing the time needed to master this new skill.

What’s New in Version 1.3
The 2016 version of Essentials of Point-of-Care Ultrasound includes updates to all chapters. The most significant updates are to the Renal, IVC, and Thoracic chapters. The Renal chapter provides a more incisive way to determine the grade of hydronephrosis. The IVC chapter contains the latest definitions for defining a positive vs negative scan. The Thoracic chapter has an expanded B lines section. A few of the chapters now have a Student’s Corner with video mini-lectures of anatomical and pathophysiologic correlations to POCUS. A chapter on Prehospital POCUS has been added.

Doing lots of scans on lots of patient models (with your ultrasound tech teacher when you are starting out) is the way to rapidly achieve ultrasound examination competence. Ask all your friends to volunteer for scanning. You’ll be happily surprised at how soon you achieve competence.

Once you feel competent in performing the scan, you can use an internet over-read service to get immediate diagnostic confirmation of the adequacy of your exam and the correctness of your interpretation until you no longer need it.

You can find an excellent YouTube video on almost any ultrasound scanning technique, case, or problem. Just go to the categories box on this blog and type in Ultrasound Imaging. You will get all the YouTube videos that I find helpful for learning and review.

Additional YouTube videos can be found in the Menu –> Resources –> Primary Care Ultrasound.

If you are interested in getting an RDMS credential go here:

PEDIATRIC SONOGRAPHY (PS)
If you are a physician interested in applying for the RDMS credential with a PS specialty, please visit the website for ARDMS’s new physician-centric companion Council, the Alliance for Physician Certification & Advancement (APCA).
The Pediatric Sonography (PS) examination tests basic pediatric sonography knowledge and skills essential to Sonography Professionals.
To earn a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS) credential with a PS specialty, you must pass the Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) examination and the PS examination within five years.

 

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