Category Archives: POCUS

Evaluating Muscle Trauma: POCUS as First Line Imaging



Alexander Talaska works as a radiologist in Vienna, focusing on musculoskeletal sonography in diagnostics and therapeutic interventions as well as emergency medicine. He loves the complexity of anatomical knowledge combined with dynamic scanning in MSK, solving a problem efficiently and integrating sonography in patients needs and best outcome in diagnostics. One of his favorites is peripheral nerve imaging. Already in the second year during his studies of medicine at the Medical University of Vienna (MUVI) he deeply got in touch with sonography. First teaching as a sono tutor from student to student, in between organizing the students initiative Sono4You on the same time while building up a team of enthusiastic students tutors in sonography besides his studies. In his radiology residency at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy at the MUVI he combined his broadly trained sonoanatomy skills with a huge variety of pathologies and MRI skills, especially in musculoskeletal imaging. Since 2012, Alex has contributed regularly to several teaching and educational events to medical specialists, residents, sonographers and medical students. He also focuses on comparable documentation techniques and structured reporting in sonography, interdisciplinary discussions and usage of sonography with consequence. At the moment Alex works in one of the biggest trauma and rehabilitation centers in Vienna, accompanied by sports medicine. He still enjoys teaching and passes on knowledge whenever he can.

Additional Resources

Read this article to learn how emergency physicians can use POCUS to visualize the structures beneath the skin.

Learn how musculoskeletal POCUS supplements the emergency physicians’ process of identifying the extent of an injury and the correct course of action.

The Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Tennis Leg case study provides insights on why the portable, cost-effective nature of POCUS makes it an excellent modality for diagnosing a tear of the medial head of the gastrocnemius.


Role of POCUS within Regenerative Medicine



 

Mr. Suresh Sudula, MCSP Consultant Physiotherapist in MSK Ultrasound | MSK Medicine Medway Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Kent Musculoskeletal Clinic | LifePlus Stem Cells | Harley Street Specialist Hospital

Mr. Sudula has specialized in Musculoskeletal Medicine for the last 20 years. He has a Diploma in Orthopedic Medicine and Injection Therapy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Musculoskeletal Ultrasound from Canterbury Christ Church University. His specialist interest is advanced ultrasound guided musculoskeletal interventions, including Orthobiologics and ultrasound guided spinal injections. Mr. Sudula is the first physiotherapist from the UK to obtain a visiting fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Radiology department. He is also an honorary lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, teaching a MS Ultrasound PG Cert program and teaches on national and international MSK US courses and musculoskeletal society conferences. Mr. Sudula worked in collaboration with SonoSkills, as a course director/developer for an online e-learning MSK ultrasound-guided injection masterclass and is Consultant Physiotherapist in Diagnostic and Interventional Musculoskeletal Ultrasound at the Medway Maritime Hospital. Mr. Sudula is a program director for MSK Ultrasound and MSK Medicine and the founder and director of Kent Musculoskeletal Clinic; a private clinic offering highly specialized ultrasound guided injection services. More recently Mr. Sudula has been appointed as a Head of Education at LifePlus Stem Cells, first Stem Cell service in the UK to provide clinicians with quantifiable, quality assured autologous and allogenic stem cells to be prescribed as a medicine for a wide range of medical conditions including orthopedic, manufactured under HTA and MHRA Licenses.


Minisode: Experts Gear Up for POCUS World



 

Beshoy Ghaly, MD, is an ABPTS Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Electrophysiology. He is also Registered in Musculoskeletal Sonography (RMSK) by the Alliance for Physician Certification and Advancement (APCA) and holds the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Musculoskeletal Certificate (POCUS). He has performed and interpreted thousands of diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound studies in both physical therapy and medicine practice settings, including the highly specialized orthopedic surgery field. He is an APTA-Credentialed Clinical Instructor, and has presented in professional conferences and published multiple journal articles related to the field. He serves the Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management as an elected Nominating Committee Member and an appointed Nominating Committee Chair of the Neuromusculoskeletal Ultrasonography Special Interest Group (NMSKUSSIG). He serves as an item writer for the Clinical Electrophysiology Board Exam through the ABPTS Specialization Academy of Content Experts. He is an active member of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine & the American Physical Therapy Association. On a personal note, he is inspired by the incredible success & life stories of Elon Musk, Martin Luther King Jr, Helen Keller & Mahatma Gandhi.

Josh Davis, MD, is an emergency medicine physician in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. Davis received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and completed residency at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. He is also a certified personal trainer through the National Association of Sports Medicine.


A Lifetime of POCUS Learning



Arun Nagdev, M.D., is Exo’s Senior Director of Clinical Education. Separate from his capacity with Exo, he also serves as the Director of Emergency Ultrasound at Highland General Hospital as well as a Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In his previous academic position, Dr. Nagdev started the point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) program and fellowship at Brown University. Dr. Nagdev is a highly respected international POCUS researcher and educator. He has been a thought leader throughout his career, publishing more than 90 peer-reviewed papers on various aspects of POCUS including pain management, cardiac arrest and volume resuscitation. His work led to recognition and national awards at both the American College of Emergency Medicine (ACEP) and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). His desire to increase clinical POCUS education for residents and medical students has garnered him numerous teaching awards at Brown University, Highland Hospital and UCSF. Over the course of his career, he has been an invited lecturer for POCUS education at numerous national emergency medicine conferences (ACEP, SAEM, AAEM, etc). He currently serves as president of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) POCUS section and is the incoming president for ACEP Ultrasound section.


Keep exploring point-of-care ultrasound at POCUS.org.


Physician Assistants Pursue POCUS Training



Nicole Reichhart, PA-C, is Assistant Professor and didactic faculty for the California State University, Monterey Bay Master of Science Physician Assistant program. She earned a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from Albany Medical College in 2012 and completed an Emergency Medicine fellowship at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2013. She has piloted a point-of-care ultrasound curriculum throughout the didactic phase of the MSPA program, preparing the students to enter their clinical year with a vast POCUS skillset. Nicole embeds POCUS into both the anatomy and physiology and clinical skills courses. She is passionate about implementing point-of-care ultrasound in physician assistant school curriculum and providing her students with opportunities to collaborate in the shared mission of improving global health and setting standards for excellence in POCUS. She has nine years of clinical experience as a PA, much of which has been in caring for patients in underserved communities. Nicole is a military spouse, mother of three children under 5, and enjoys a good brunch.


Overcoming POCUS Plateaus



Andre Kumar, MD, MEd, is a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at Stanford University. He is the director for the Stanford Medicine Procedure Service, President of the Society of Hospital Medicine Bay Area, and an instructor for the Society of Hospital Medicine POCUS Certification Program. Dr. Kumar is passionate about researching POCUS for patient care and guiding future accreditation. He is currently the lead investigator for a multi-institutional study involving the use of POCUS for COVID-19, and he recently published two randomized trials investigating how to optimally train resident physicians with POCUS.

Resources

This study found that while a 2-day hands-on ultrasound course provides internal medicine physicians with an initial understanding of POCUS, there are barriers in transferring these abilities to clinical practice.

Find out how an interprofessional, near-peer workshop can help internal medicine residents develop POCUS skills, especially in programs where faculty expertise is limited.

Learn what will help residents overcome the barrier of unfamiliarity with documenting ultrasounds for diagnostic decision-making.

Discover how a phased implementation of POCUS curriculums has proven successful and could inform future educational programs.

Visit us at POCUS.org.


POCUS Augments Critical Care Nursing Diagnostics



Leon Chen, DNP, is a board certified acute care nurse practitioner with background in critical care medicine. He is the clinical program manager of research and simulated learning for the department of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at memorial Sloan Kettering cancer center, and a clinical assistant professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. He is a strong proponent of utilizing point of care ultrasonography to rapidly delineate differential diagnoses and to guide resuscitation. Leon is also a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the NY Academy of Medicine. He serves on the editorial board of Critical Care Nursing Quarterly and the Journal of American Association of Nurse Practitioners. He earned a certificate of completion in critical care ultrasonography from the American College of Chest Physicians and is active in point of care ultrasonography education.

 

Resources

Read this study about how nurses’ use of ultrasound enhanced the diagnostic process and level of care heart failure patients receive at an outpatient clinic.

Examine this review of 11 full-text publications and 10 conference abstracts found that patients experience positive benefits when renal nurses and technicians use POCUS. Learn more here.

Discover why the Canadian Association of Radiologists Position Statement on Point-of-Care Ultrasound also relates to nurse practitioners and other health care providers who use POCUS.


Paving the Way for POCUS



Becca Davis, MD, is an Internal Medicine physician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and an assistant professor at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. She completed her medical school training and internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania where she went on to be chief resident before making the move to Jefferson. She is currently an assistant program director for the Internal Medicine/Primary Care Residency and associate program director for the Internal Medicine POCUS Fellowship, which just started this year at Jefferson. While she was lucky enough to get some exposure to ultrasound in residency, she really developed her POCUS skill set two years ago when she became an attending. She works closely with the EM and critical care teams to help spread her passion for POCUS across the department and participates in the institutional Point of Care Ultrasound Committee. Primarily, Becca is working to create a formalized POCUS curriculum and electives for the residency and develop a clinical pathway for hospitalists to gain POCUS skills in addition to her fellowship and clinical responsibilities.


POCUS and the Environment



Dr. Matthew Burke received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his medical degree from Albany Medical College. He completed his family medicine residency at Brown University and, through the Robert Graham Center in Washington, D.C., subsequently completed a fellowship in primary care health policy at Georgetown University. Since then, Dr. Burke has worked in federal government, academic residency practice, and urgent care. He served as the new physician member to the American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP) board of directors from 2016 to 2017. He is currently practicing in Arlington, VA. He has strong interests in the social determinants of health and in particular environmental determinants, as the climate crisis threatens to be the public health emergency of the 21st century.


The Value of Volunteering



 

James A. DellaValle, MD, is a graduate of the Drexel University School of Medicine. He is a board-certified in emergency and family medicine, focusing on those in rural areas and under-served populations. Dr. DellaValle served as medical advisor and member of the Board of Trustees of Hands Together, a non-governmental organization (NGO) working with the poorest of the poor in Haiti, for 15 years. He has been awarded a fellowship by the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture and the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is also certified by ARDMS in abdominal, cardiac, and vascular ultrasound. Dr. DellaValle continues to be involved in undergraduate and graduate medical education. Presently, he serves as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at The Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, and as the Chair of the APCA POCUS Certification Assessment Committee.