Online Clinical Ultrasound and Echocardiography Courses

AMA Category 1 CME CreditTM approved

A New Paradigm in Echocardiography Education

Entirely Distance Based Learning

The introduction of echocardiography has made a dramatic impact on patient management

in the peri-operative, critical care, emergency medicine, surgery and internal medicine

environments. Whilst many short courses and texts have emerged, to our knowledge there

is no comprehensive educational course available worldwide that can be studied in your own

time and location.

Our aim is to provide an educational package for practitioners that will give them the

detailed knowledge required to become competent at clinical ultrasound and

echocardiography.

The SCA has partnered with Heartweb to deliver a program of courses based on

the highly successful postgraduate courses from The University of Melbourne.

With a focus on basic transthoracic echocardiography

(TTE) and surface ultrasound use. It also includes basic

transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).

This course will provide educational material with for

practitioners in anesthesiology, cardiology, surgery,

emergency medicine, intensive care and other specialties.

This level is equivalent in content and scope to a

university Postgraduate Certificate.

With a focus on advanced TEE and TTE, this course

follows on after the completion of SCA On-CUE Level 1.

This course provides for a “diagnostic” level of knowledge

with for cardiac pathologies including valve assessment,

complex cardiovascular pathology and comprehensive

reporting.

The course is suitable for practitioners in cardiac

anesthesiology, cardiac surgery, cardiology, intensive

care medicine and other advanced medical applications.

This level is equivalent in content and scope to a

university Postgraduate Diploma or Training Fellowship

level.

This course provides an extensive knowledge base from interactive tutorials, case studies with DICOM

images and with a full version of the software analyzer - ProSolv Viewer. This replicates the experience of

making measurements using an echocardiography machine.

This course will provide you with a structured educational ultrasound program with

self-assessments to reinforce your learning experience.

Each level of 4 subjects is to be completed in a maximum of 2

years.

If you are undertaking 2 subjects, you are recommended to spend

10 study hours per week. We offer flexible learning, you may

commence at any time and complete the course at your own pace.

These courses are entirely distance based learning and are

supported via email and telephone. Examination times are set in

your own time and place.

The course material is delivered via a customized application

designed for HeartWeb called the Student App.

The format of the course material is interactive multimedia tutorials,

which are supported with images and videos of echocardiography

material.

A full license of Synapse Prosolv Viewer DICOM software, which is

kindly supplied by FujiFilm, is included with the course material. This

allows measurements to be performed as for later clinical practice.

Both levels are rich in case examples, containing at least 100 cases

for review in addition to the images used in the tutorials.

Following completion of your course, you will become a Heartweb

community member, and will have continued access the course

materials.

If we update the materials during your course or afterwards, then

you will be prompted to download the new version without

charge.

http://www.heartweb.com/application

You will be notified by email of your acceptance into the course with instructions on how to proceed with payment.

When you enrol and pay online for each subject, your license for the

subject will be switched on, allowing you to download and have access to

the course materials.

*Please note fees are subject to an annual increase.

The normal course fee is USD $1,500 per subject (USD $6,000 per level),

but if you are an SCA member it will cost USD $1,250 per subject (USD

$5,000 per level).

Please supply your current SCA membership number for verification, or

join as a member before you enrol for the course.

Fellowship or Resident program discount $750 per subject (USD).

A letter from the head of the unit you are training is to be supplied.

Fees (2012) USD $1,500 per subject

e.g. Total Course Fee for the 4 subjects in Level 1 is USD $6,000

Fees (2012) for SCA Members USD $1,250 per subject Fellowship or Resident program discount USD $750 per subject e.g. Total Course Fee for the 4 subjects in Level 1 is USD $5,000

Visit the SCA website for online membership application https://www.scahq.org

The SCA encourages medically qualified applicants who must possess

qualifications sufficient for them to practice as a medical practitioner;

these include MD, MBBS, MBChB or equivalent degrees.

You will need to be competent in English language to complete the

courses. If your English language is not sufficient, then you will have

great difficulty undertaking the course. Therefore, as part of the

application process, we do require evidence that you are proficient in

English.

A copy of your medical degree and / or fellowship qualification.

If your medical degree or fellowship qualification was completed in a

language other than English, you will be asked to supply a copy of

one relevant qualification that has been completed in English (e.g.

other university degree and/or specialist qualification) or a letter

from your Head of Department testifying to your competence in

English.

You may enrol at any time throughout the year.

To apply go to http://www.heartweb.com/application and complete

the online application form.

Please contact our office for further information:

Email support@heartweb.com

Call (US/Canada Toll Free) 1-866-391-4965

Call (International) + 1 (804) 335-1453

Skype HEARTweb.com

This course is designed to be exclusively conducted via distance

education, and is available to students from any country worldwide.

Email us if you have any doubt to eligibility. The selection committee

may call for referee reports, employer references, or certified copies of

qualifications.

Examinations are scheduled upon request. We offer flexible

learning. Notify us by email support@heartweb.com when you are

ready to take the examinations

Submission of self-assessments before the examination

Submission of 50 multiple choice examination questions per

subject which is conducted in an open book style

The self-assessments and examinations are completed via a web-

based system which is integrated into the Student App. For self-

assessment questions, once you have completed, the screen will

refresh with the answers and explanations. For examinations, you

will be given a pass or fail mark only.

Upon successful completion of your course you will be awarded a

certificate of completion for each level from the SCA.

For courses commencing in 2012,

AMA Category 1 CME creditsTM have been awarded.

Each subject will attract a maximum of 100 credits.

Completion on Level 1 up to 400 credits

Completion on Level 2 up to 400 credits

Completion on both Levels up to 800 credits

Accreditation Statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council

for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the Society

of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists and Heartweb. The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists is accredited by the ACCME to provide

continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation Statement: The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists

designates this enduring material for a maximum of 100 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the

extent of their participation in the activity.

Pocket Guide to Perioperative and Critical Care Echocardiography

McGraw-Hills

Practical Perioperative Transoesophageal Echocardiography

Butterworth Heinemann

All tutorials are in PDF format, with embedded security.

The Adobe PDF files and video clips can be viewed on both PC and

Mac using the latest version of Adobe Acrobat.

The Student App is a customized application designed for downloading

course material and will be provided with the courses.

It is the primary tool for the courses; it contains all tutorials,

self-assessments, feedback forms and examinations.

The ProSolv Viewer is used to replicate the experience of making

measurements using an echocardiography machine.

This software will be provided with the courses.

The ProSolv Viewer is PC compatible, it will work on a Mac computer if

you use Virtual PC software emulation programs such as VM Fusion or

Parallels on an Intel-based Mac, with Windows installed.

Broadband internet access is a course requirement as we administer

the course online and via email.

All examinations and self-assessments require a live internet

connection

Activating course material requires internet connection. Tutorials and

case studies are downloaded via the Student App which the student

installs onto their computer.

Once the tutorials are downloaded successfully, they can be viewed on

the hard drive without an internet connection (offline license).

The data size per course is approximately 8GB. Please check with your

internet service provider what your download limit is per month, so

that you do not exceed the limit with your first attempt at download.

If download volumes are problematic, we can supply upon request,

the course material to be posted on a USB stick

(a charge will apply for delivery).

A brief description and subject objectives are outlined in the following pages for each

subject. There are 4 subjects for each integrated course, each of which carries the

same teaching and examination commitment.

There are roughly 10 to 12 interactive tutorials per subject and at least

100 case studies spread across each level.

This subject will outline a physics related to medical ultrasound

use; an introduction to transthoracic echocardiography using the

focused assessment technique and H.A.R.T.scan®

(Haemodynamic Echocardiography Assessment in Real Time).

This subject will outline the technique of using ultrasound to guide

percutaneous procedures. Procedures will include vessel access,

nerve blocks, and trauma related procedures. There will be an

elective of either “ICU” or “Anaesthesia”.

This subject will introduce Doppler echocardiography to

complement basic transthoracic echocardiography imaging.

This subject will expand the knowledge of transthoracic

echocardiography by learning pathophysiology and assessment of

ventricular function, including in diastolic function.

This subject will provide additional advanced material on

anatomy and Doppler analysis, which would not have been

covered at the certificate level.

This subject will provide advanced knowledge called valvular and

aortic pathology and echocardiography assessment.

This subject will identify the role of ultrasound and specific

clinical situations relevant to perioperative and critical care

practice.

This subject will outline how to formally report diagnostic

echocardiography studies, using a custom designed database

reporting system. There will be 50 case studies to be reported.

MBBS, MD, FANZCA. The University of Melbourne and Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia

MBBS, MD, FRACS, FCSANZ. The University of Melbourne and Department of Cardiothoracic

Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia

DAvMed, FAFOM, FFOM, FANZCA, BA, ASCeXAM.

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia

Deputy Director, Anaesthetics, Macquarie University Private Hospital,

Sydney Adventist Hospital, Sydney, Australia

MBBS, FANZCA, PGDipEcho.

Consultant Anaesthetist, Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart, Australia

BscHon, MBBS, FANZCA.

Consultant Anaesthetist, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

MBBS, FANZCA.

St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

MD, FASE. Professor of Anesthesiology, Fellowship Program Director, Emory

University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Senior Specialist in Intensive Care, The St. George Hospital, Kogarah,

Australia

MBBS (Hons), FANZCA.

Consultant Anaesthetist, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia

MBBS, FANZCA, PTEeXAM, FASE, ASCeXAM.

Director of Anaesthesia, Joondalup Hospital, Perth, Australia

MBBS, FANZCA, PGDipEcho.

Consultant Anaesthetist, North East Health, Wangaratta, Australia

MD.

Associate Director Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States

MD, FAHA, FASE.

Professor of Anesthesia, Director of Cardiac Anesthesia, Brigham &

Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

MBBS, FANZCA.

Consultant Anaesthetist, Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand

1-866-391-4965

+ 1 (804) 335-1453