Fellows will complete a yearlong curriculum, based on current ACEP recommendations, to achieve mastery in point-of-care ultrasound. The focus of the curriculum is hands-on scanning in the active clinical environment, with the goal of preparing fellows to be leaders in clinical ultrasound education, program management and research. The fellowship includes a robust simulation experience, significant time in medical student and resident education, experience with advanced POCUS applications, and proctored scanning with other clinical departments. It is the expectation that the fellow will be more than prepared to sit for either the RDMS or DFP-CU certification exams by the end of their fellowship year.
Goals & Objectives
In keeping with recommendations from national organizations such as ACEP and SAEM, the fellow’s experience will encompass the following, drawn from the 2011 ACEP Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship guidelines:
Competency in clinical ultrasound — the fellow will complete a minimum of 1,000 ultrasound examinations over the course of the year. The fellow will take an active role in the quality assurance process of the department through scan review and direct supervision of student learners.
Research proficiency — the fellow will design at least one research project for submission to the IRB for approval, and begin data acquisition during the course of their fellowship. Fellows are expected to submit at least one abstract as first author and presenter to a national meeting during the fellowship. The fellow will be actively involved in ongoing research activities in the Emergency Department, as well as to take a leadership role in the monthly institutional emergency ultrasound journal club.
Educational experience — the fellow will prepare and deliver lectures or focused workshops on the basic emergency ultrasound applications to the members of the department and potentially broader institutional audiences. The fellow will participate in the educational mission of the emergency medicine residency program by preparing and delivering at least one lecture on an advanced or novel application of emergency ultrasound to the department. The fellow will participate in the hands-on teaching of residents, medical students and/or other faculty in emergency ultrasound, including, but not limited to, didactic lectures, bedside teaching, research involvement and Q&A education.
Systems-based practice and administration — the fellow is expected to be involved with the various administrative and quality-assurance duties involving emergency ultrasound, including, but not limited to, internal billing audits, interdepartmental meetings and monitoring the credentialing process of colleagues. The emergency ultrasound fellow must attend one national emergency ultrasound organization meeting during the year.
Research
The Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville is committed to fostering research by the faculty, residents and fellows. Our institution has been engaged in clinically applied research for many years and is enriched by the presence of faculty who have demonstrated excellence in performing research and in training new investigators.
A Dean’s Fund Research Award grant is available to residents and fellows. Every spring, Research Day is held, with residents and fellows from all disciplines presenting their work. An annual award for resident research is a reflection of the research in our training programs. Well-designed studies conducted in collaboration with the faculty have resulted in residents and fellows presenting their research at regional, national and international meetings. Funding is made available for these presentations and residents are strongly encouraged to publish the results of their scientific projects.