Clinical Fellow in Emergency Medicine and Point of Care Ultrasound

This post will provide the point of care ultrasound fellow with 20% protected time to focus on PoCUS training and accreditation within the Emergency Medicine Junior Clinical Fellow or ST4+ rota depending on previous experience. The fellow would be expected to have considerable Emergency Medicine experience (ideally ST4+ or a Senior Clinical Fellow). The fellow would ideally be already signed-off in Level 1 and looking to expand their PoCUS expertise and repertoire. The development objectives would be flexible but could include some more advanced abdominal topics (e.g. cholecystitis & hydronephrosis), DVT scanning, echocardiography or regional anesthesia. We would expect the successful applicant to be involved with PoCUS training of other members of the EM team, undertake a PoCUS based audit/QIP and champion our departmental PoCUS governance principles. We would support the applicant to make a publication in a peer-reviewed journal on a PoCUS topic. We would additionally encourage the
fellow to enroll in a Post Graduate Ultrasound course with their scanning forming part of this programme., Increasingly hospital-based ultrasound examinations are occurring outside traditional radiology departments as point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) examinations. When performed by appropriately trained professionals they are invaluable for expediting patient care through offering a timely diagnosis and by allowing direct visualisation of structures during ultrasound-guided procedures. PoCUS is also part of the core curriculum for the Royal College of Emergency Medicine which now includes new applications for shock and ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca nerve block.

Our Emergency Department has several Consultants and senior registrars with expertise in PoCUS training and a regular Consultant-led PoCUS teaching programme. As an example of this we were able to rapidly upskill our clinicians in lung ultrasound in response to the coronavirus pandemic. We have also recently launched protocols for ultrasound-guided nerve blocks for patients with rib fractures and for respiratory assessment. We have 10 ultrasound machines, including several state-of-the-art cart-based and hand-held devices, and a co-located Emergency Floor Ultrasound Room staffed by an ultrasonographer providing emergency ultrasound scans within working hours. We have a great relationship with our sonographers and radiologists who support the fellowship and will provide regular supervision. We also have strong relationships with other PoCUS experts in the trust and are part of a multidisciplinary group that hosts monthly cross-specialty training. In addition to our regular
online and bedside teaching we also host a number of hands-on departmental courses which the fellows are encouraged to lead.