Courses and Seminars

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine Acute Care Ultrasound Workshop is an introductory hands on course for healthcare providers interested in incorporating limited bedside ultrasound imaging in the care of their patients. This course provides instruction on the most important bedside ultrasound assessments for acute care settings with hands on practice sessions to provide you with opportunities to develop ultrasound skills with coaching from our talented staff of instructors.

Target Audience

Providers in acute care specialties such as anesthesia, internal medicine, emergency medicine, critical care, family and community medicine and general surgery.

Course Objectives

Participants in the Point of Care Ultrasound Workshop will be able to:

• Describe basic ultrasound physics
• Describe ultrasound display safety information
• Describe the general controls and probe types on an ultrasound machine
• Describe the indications for and general imaging approach for point of care exams ofthe:
  
  • Heart
  • Lungs
  • Abdominal potential spaces
  • Renal System for Obstruction
  • Soft Tissue
  • Deep Venous System
• Demonstrate basic scanning technique for these organ systems
• Describe basic ultrasound guided procedure safety and technique
• Describe in-plane and out-of-plane approaches to ultrasound guided procedures
• Demonstrate basic skills in ultrasound guided vascular access
• Describe the components of ultrasound exam documentation

Casey Glass, MD - Course Director

CME Credit

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 16 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity

Upcoming course dates can be seen below.

The Neurovascular Ultrasound courses present the anatomy, pathophysiology and hemodynamics regarding the extracranial and intracranial cerebral circulation.

Carotid duplex sonography, color-flow imaging, carotid intima-media thickness measurement, transcranial Doppler (TCD), embolus detection and new developments in ultrasonographic methods are presented during both lectures and hands-on scanning lab sessions. The emphasis is on clinical applications, case examples and principles of interpretation.

The Neurovascular Ultrasound course offers a comprehensive one-week curriculum designed to accommodate participants' varying schedules and interests. While full-week attendance is encouraged, participants have the flexibility to choose specific days based on their focus areas. The course is structured into two main parts: the first part of the week delves into principles, physics and Transcranial Doppler (TCD). Mid-week shifts focus to extracranial carotid sonography. Hands-on training sessions are integrated seamlessly into the curriculum, taking place over the weekend following the lecture series and a designated travel day allows participants to make necessary arrangements without disrupting their learning experience.

• Day 1 and 2 (Monday and Tuesday): Virtual TCD didactics
• Day 3 and 4 (Wednesday and Thursday): Virtual Carotid didactics
• Day 5 (Friday) Reserved as a travel day
• Day 6 (Saturday) On-site TCD scanning labs, featuring patient models
• Day 7 (Sunday) On-site Carotid scanning labs, featuring patient models
   

This course serves as a preamble to the Neurovascular Ultrasound Interpretation (Carotid and TCD) course.

Aarti Sarwal, MD, RPNI, Director

Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the participant should be better able to:

• Discuss key principles of ultrasound physics, technology and anatomy as applied to neurovascular testing.
• Describe hemodynamics and pathophysiology of the cerebral circulation, and alterations relevant to patients with stroke, cerebrovascular disease (including sickle cell disease [SCD]), vasospasm and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• List clinical indications for neurovascular testing, particularly as related to patients with stroke, cerebrovascular disease, SCD, vasospasm and TBI.
• Discuss the integrated role for neurovascular ultrasound in the management of patients with stroke, cerebrovascular disease, vasospasm and TBI and potential benefits to improve patient safety and outcomes.
• Discuss criteria for interpretation of neurovascular ultrasound studies.
• Describe key aspects of ongoing quality improvement in a neurovascular service.
• Demonstrate the hands-on ability to successfully identify pathology within key arterial segments in the extracranial circulation (CCA, BIF, ICA, ECA, VA) and to obtain Doppler velocity measurements from those segments.
• Demonstrate the hands-on ability to identify key intracranial arterial segments using TCD (MCA, ACA, PCA, VA, BA) and to obtain Doppler velocity measurements from those segments.

Upcoming course dates can be seen below.

CME Credit

The Neurovascular Ultrasound Interpretation course is designed for attendees to interpret at least 200 neurovascular ultrasound cases (100 carotid and 100 TCD studies) in a supervised environment. This live activity is delivered virtually. While full-week attendance is encouraged, participants have the flexibility to choose specific days based on their area of focus. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday covers TCD interpretation while Thursday and Friday is specific to Carotid interpretation.  

Cases will be presented using video and electronic images, from which attendees will create a preliminary interpretation. The findings will be discussed, and when possible, compared with the clinical reading. Some unknown cases will be reviewed and submitted for critique. Prior completion of the Neurovascular Ultrasound course (or its equivalent) including hands-on and practical interpretation experience is strongly encouraged. Basics of Neurovascular ultrasound (carotid and TCD) interpretation and clinical interpretation are covered in our Neurovascular Ultrasound course and will only be repeated in relevant to the case-based review. Attendees with no prior ultrasound knowledge or experience who need the basics of ultrasound interpretation and clinical interpretation should seek education in basics and clinical indications before this course. Neurovascular Ultrasound (Carotid and TCD) serves as a preamble to this course.

Aarti Sarwal, MD, RPNI, Director

Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the participant should be better able to:

• Describe criteria for the interpretation of carotid duplex ultrasound studies.
• Describe criteria for the interpretation of transcranial Doppler ultrasound studies.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify normal, compared to pathological findings in the extracranial (CCA, BIF, ICA, ECA and VA) and the intracranial circulation (MCA, ACA, PCA, VA and BA).
• Formulate preliminary interpretations of carotid and transcranial ultrasound examinations.
• List clinical indications for neurovascular testing, particularly as related to patients with stroke or cerebrovascular disease.
• Discuss the integrated role for neurovascular ultrasound in the management of patients with stroke or cerebrovascular disease, and potential benefits to improve patient safety and outcomes.

Upcoming course dates can be seen below.

CME Credit

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 40 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The Ob-Gyn Ultrasound course integrates both obstetrics and gynecology components to provide a comprehensive learning experience. The curriculum is structured over multiple days, each focusing on distinct aspects of the field.

The first day emphasizes gynecology, covering essential topics such as orientation and terminology of the gynecological tract through informative lectures. Conversely, the second day shifts the focus to obstetrics, featuring dedicated lectures delivered by experienced physicians to delve into pertinent obstetric matters.  Hands-on scanning labs are a pivotal aspect of the course, offering participants practical experience under the guidance of a registered sonographer. A full day is dedicated to gynecological transvaginal scanning as well as first trimester dating and biophysical profiles, providing ample opportunity to master this technique. Another day is devoted to hands-on obstetrics ultrasound, where pregnant models in varied stages of gestation enrich the learning experience.

The Ob-Gyn Ultrasound course presents an inclusive curriculum tailored to suit the diverse schedules and preferences of participants. While full-week attendance is encouraged, participants have the flexibility to choose specific days based on their focus areas.

Spanning a total of 28 hours distributed across 5 days, the course structure is as follows:

• Day 1 (Tuesday): Virtual Gynecology didactics
• Day 2 (Wednesday): Virtual Obstetric didactics
• Day 3 (Thursday): Reserved as a travel day
• Day 4 (Friday): On-site GYN scanning labs
• Day 5 (Saturday): On-site obstetrics scanning labs
  
   

Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the participant should be better able to:

• Translate core topics in basic Ob-Gyn ultrasound as well as physical principles of ultrasound from conceptual to practical application on a daily basis.
• Understand the orientation of the pelvic and fetal anatomy as it is displayed on the monitor using both endovaginal and abdominal transducers.
• Recognize normal female pelvic anatomy including the bladder, cervix, uterus and ovaries.
• Identify basic fetal embryology and know how it applies to ultrasound imaging in the first trimester.
• Demonstrate skillful scanning techniques for performing an amniotic fluid index and biophysical profile.
• Understand the importance of determining chorionicity of multiple gestations in the first trimester.
• Identify normal fetal anatomy and the most common fetal anomalies.
• Distinguish markers of aneuploidy and to understand how they are used for the purpose of risk assessment.

Upcoming course dates can be seen below. 

CME Credit

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 28 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The Francis O. Walker Neuromuscular Ultrasound course focuses on applications in muscle disease, peripheral and cranial nerve imaging and introduction to the use of ultrasound in evaluating musculoskeletal disorders.

Lectures are integrated with hands-on demonstrations of technique and case interpretation. A small-group format helps facilitate questions and answers and tailors the educational experience to meet the specific needs of individual participants.

Michael Cartwright, MD, Director

Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the participant should be better able to:

• Define terms of ultrasound and demonstrate application of the principles while imaging neuromuscular structures.
• Identify upper extremity, lower extremity and cranial musculature, and the visible boundaries that distinguish muscle groups in these areas.
• Recognize loss of heterogeneity, fasciculations, hyperechoic changes, hypertrophy and other common pathologic changes in affected human muscles.
• Identify the median, radial and ulnar nerves in the upper extremity, and areas of the sural, peroneal and tibial nerves in the lower extremity, and recognize common anatomic variants and pathologic abnormalities of these nerves.
• Discuss indications for appropriate use of ultrasound imaging, factors that could complicate interpretation and clinical situations where ultrasound imaging is particularly contributory to addressing clinical problems.

Upcoming course dates can be seen below. 

CME Credit

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine designates this activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.