The Rural Ultrasound Fellowship is built on proven international models for advanced bedside ultrasound teaching and mentorship. Unlike course or bootcamp based teaching (i.e. "one and done" models), the Rural Ultrasound Fellowship provides a year long curriculum with spaced repetition and ongoing faculty support, every step of the way.
It truly is an ultrasound fellowship, and one which you can participate in from anywhere, while working full time in your own practice.
Image Description
While the fellowship's roots are in rural Canada, it is clear that the enhanced bedside ultrasound curriculum and skill set are of interest to a much broader selection of physicians, both within Canada and beyond.
Our curriculum, like our international faculty, and indeed the advantages of advanced bedside ultrasound, is universally applicable. It is also highly customizable to meet the needs of each individual fellow.
Participation in the RUF is not restricted to small town doctors, or to only Canadians. If you like what you're seeing, do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your particular situation and PoCUS education goals.
Image Description
Fellows
(2 continents)
International Faculty Experts
Expert Alumni Scanning Daily
Up to MainPro+ Credits Available
This Group Learning program has been certified by the
College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to 148 Mainpro+ credits.
Rural Generalism is AWESOME - but also has its challenges. We see patients with all types of presentations, and we must diagnose and manage them using limited resources and without easy access to advanced diagnostics or consultants.
Ultrasound helps close the gap.
Nowhere in modern medical practice does bedside ultrasound stand to improve healthcare more than in rural and resource limited settings.
Multiply your confidence at the bedside.
In real time.
Without radiation [or any known adverse biological effect.]
PoCUS has been around for nearly five decades, and PoCUS courses in the west, for more than half of that. Tens of thousands of physicians have been trained.
Yet the overall uptake and translation into practice remains alarmingly low.
Of a dozen physicians taking an introductory course, perhaps only one or two may be actively applying what they have learned a year later.
Modern medicine has barely begun to scratch the surface, when it comes to the powerful clinical enhancements, efficiency and quality of care improvements PoCUS integration could be making.
And no where is that potential benefit more striking than resource-limited practice environments, from a nursing outpost on the edge of Hudson's Bay to a stand-alone Urgent Care centre.
NO!
In our opinion, PoCUS is not ideally suited to a "One-And-Done" weekend course format.
Imagine trying to teach an anatomy student, (with otherwise no prior knowledge), physical examination in just one weekend... Start with auscultation on mostly healthy volunteers, show them abdominal percussion & palpation, perhaps a knee exam? Then let them loose in an clinical context.
How confident and capable would you expect them to be in diagnosing aortic regurgitation, appendicitis or an MCL tear, without any further support, or mentoring?
Like learning physical examination (perhaps an entire year's worth of content and time invested during a four year medical degree?), bedside ultrasound is a complex and non-intuitive skill. Yes, it builds on a physician's inherent knowledge, but also requires: understanding of new biological acoustic principles, a paradigm shift in diagnostic thinking plus proficiency with esoteric technology.There is hope though!
You CAN master ultrasound! (Anyone can.)
But you're going to need more than 8 or 16 hours of compressed information over a weekend, here and there. Just like learning Physical Exam in medical school, we need:(1) much, much more educational time
(2) repeated exposure
(3) ongoing mentorship and faculty support