Program Overview
& Curriculum
Program Highlights
The RUF was designed specifically for practitioners in active practice.
Delivered Virtually
You live and work in your community by choice! We know the challenges of accessing CME (particularly longitudinal training), without the need to leave home and disrupt your practice. That's why the fellowship is delivered 100% online.
- Learn in your own community.
- Stay close to family and colleagues.
- Keep working without interruptions.
Most fellows report wthin the first month, how their fellowship has begun to enhance their day to day practice.
Exceptional Flexibility
Our asynchronous, year-long format puts you in control.
- Study and practice according to your own schedule.
- Receive curated readings, live and recorded video lectures every month, covering a comprehensive PoCUS curriculum.
- Prioritize topics based on your personal interest and practice style.
- Reinforce your knowledge with spaced repetition and a variety of educational techniques.
World-Class Faculty
Learn from expert ultrasound educators, known on national, if not the global PoCUS stage. Faculty backgrounds include:
- Anesthesiologists
- Emergency Physicians (rural, community & academic)
- Intensivists
- Maternity Experts
- Radiologists
- PoCUS Researchers
- Physiatry & Sports Medicine Specialists
- Rural Generalists
- QA-program Designers
Our diverse faculty combines academic expertise with real-world experience, to keep training relevant and current.
Sonographic Mastery
The program builds and transitions fellows through three stages:
- Months 1 – 4:
Review and solidify foundational and intermediate scans. -
Months 5 – 8:
Introduce advanced concepts and new scan windows. -
Months 9 – 12:
Specialize in areas most useful to your practice (e.g. advanced echo, abdominal diagnostics, regional nerve blocks).
Learning Objectives
During the program, fellows will be expected to:
- Improve image generation abilities.
- Recognize sonographic anatomy & pathological variances.
- Adjust clinical application for variances according to patient context.
- Be familiar with PoCUS governance and quality assurance.
- Enhance ability to provide PoCUS education to others.
- Be familiar with how to create PoCUS research questions.
- Adjust self learning to ever changing patient pathology and presentations.
Fellowship Curriculum
Our comprehensive program goes far beyond the basics, addressing every major application of PoCUS.
Foundational Concepts
An efficient review of basic concepts to ensure all fellows have a solid basis. [cite: 26]
- Physics: ALARA, frequency, mode, depth, gain, callipers [cite: 27]
- Abdomen: aorta, FAST, GB [cite: 27]
- Cardiac: pericardial effusions [cite: 27]
- Lung: Pneumothorax, pleural effusions [cite: 27]
- Uro/Gyne: IUP, bladder volume [cite: 27]
- Procedures: peripheral vein/artery access [cite: 27]
Intermediate Progression
Building on the fundamentals, more advanced concepts and extensions are introduced. [cite: 29]
- Physics: doppler (colour, power), aliasing, dynamic range [cite: 30]
- Abdomen: hydronephrosis, portal triad, pylorus, intro to epigastrium [cite: 30]
- Cardiac: PSL, PSS, A4C, LV function, RV dilation [cite: 30]
- Vascular: IVC, DVT, JVP [cite: 31]
Advanced Mastery
Fellows are encouraged to focus on the areas of specific interest, most relevant to their practice. [cite: 34]
- Physics: pulsed-wave Doppler, tissue Doppler [cite: 34]
- Abdomen: pancreas, CBD, gastroenteritis, colitis [cite: 34]
- Cardiac: EPSS, FS, valve assessment, TAPSE [cite: 34]
- Vascular: carotid flow, renal perfusion, portal flow, VExUS