EM Ultrasound Fellowship

em ultrasound fellowship header

Overview

The University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM) Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Fellowship Program aims to develop future leaders in POCUS both in urban and rural communities across Canada. The program is accredited as an Area of Focused Competence (AFC) by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Fellows will be eligible for an AFC diploma in Acute Care Point-of-Care Ultrasonography upon completion of the program.

POCUS is now a core competency for both emergency medicine training and practice. This fellowship is a nine-month curriculum designed to train emergency physicians to be leaders in point-of-care ultrasound in Canada. Fellows will develop expertise in sonography, teaching, research and administration.

Hospitals

The fellowship is a multi-site program based at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) and St Paul’s Hospital (SPH). VGH is a level one trauma centre and the primary regional referral centre for British Columbia with emergency department volumes of over 95,000 visits per year. VGH is also the home base for UBC’s Royal College emergency medicine program. RCH is a level one trauma centre and the main referral centre for the Fraser Valley. With 75,000 emergency department visits per year, it functions as a tertiary care centre but maintains the feel of a community hospital. It hosts the Fraser Site of UBC’s Royal College emergency medicine program. SPH is a busy, inner city, acute care hospital in the heart of downtown Vancouver with emergency department volumes of 80,000 visits per year. It is also the main hospital site for UBC’s CCFP-EM program.

Vancouver

Vancouver is a world-class, multicultural city consistently rated as one of the best places to live in the world. Vancouver combines amazing culture and food with an outdoor wonderland. Vancouverites really can ski in the morning and hit the beach in the afternoon. To top it off, Whistler is a scenic 1½-hour drive away for world-class skiing/snowboarding and mountain biking.

Curriculum

  1. Sonography: Fellows will become expert sonographers in basic and advanced POCUS applications. Academic days incorporate weekly didactics covering a breadth of up-to-date POCUS topics, quality assurance of fellow’s recorded scans and supervised scanning with a POCUS faculty. Fellows are required to do two independent scanning shifts per week in the emergency department and are expected to complete at least 800 ultrasound scans over the course of the fellowship.
  2. Teaching: Teaching is an essential component of the program. Fellows will provide bedside ultrasound teaching as well as didactic teaching to emergency medicine residents and medical students. Fellows will also be expected to give presentations at UBC DEM rounds. There will be opportunities to participate in ultrasound courses both locally and nationally.
  3. Research: Fellows will prepare an original scholarly work suitable for peer review. Quarterly journal club will review new, interesting and innovative POCUS literature.
  4. Administration: Fellows will learn how to develop and direct an ultrasound program, including physician credentialing, continuing quality improvement, and the intricacies of inter-specialty relations pertaining to ultrasound.

Program Highlights

  • Annual winter Whistler retreat
  • Quarterly fellowship journal club
  • Regular fellowship social events
  • TEE training with both cardiac anesthesia and the St. Paul’s ED TEE program
  • Nerve block training with regional anesthesia
  • Blue Phantom trainers for peripheral vascular access, central venous access, and nerve blocks
  • Research mentorship and academically productive ultrasound research program

Fellows

Find a list of current fellows and alumni here.

Teaching Faculty

Find a list of teaching faculty here.

Research

The Emergency Ultrasound group at UBC is dedicated to delivering high-quality research in the innovative field of point of care ultrasound. Publications, textbook chapters and presentations can be found here.

Eligibility

  • Interest in point of care ultrasound
  • Resident in a Canadian Royal College emergency medicine program or board-certified emergency medicine physician (either FRCPC-EM or CCFP-EM certification)
  • Hold or be eligible for a certificate of registration to practice medicine in British Columbia as issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia
  • Hold or be eligible for appropriate medical liability insurance by the Canadian Medical Protective Association

Application Process

The application form can be found here. Submission deadline for applications is November 1 to start the fellowship in the following academic year. Late applications will be considered on an individual basis. All applicants will be invited for an interview either in person or by phone or Zoom.

For more information, please check out our website.

Contact

Daniel Kim, MD FRCPC
Director, POCUS Fellowship
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of British Columbia
Email: dkim000@gmail.com
Twitter: @dan___kim
Mailing address: Vancouver General Hospital, 855 12th Ave W, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

Justin Ahn, MD FRCPC
Associate Director & RCH Site Director, POCUS Fellowship
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of British Columbia
Email: justinahnmd@gmail.com
Twitter: @vancouverpocus

Rahim Manji, MD CCFP-EM
SPH Site Director, POCUS Fellowship
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of British Columbia
Email: rahimmanjimd@gmail.com
Twitter: rahimalimanji

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