Ultrasound within Graduate Medical Education
St. Joseph's Medical Center (SJMC) is a ROSC, STEMI and Stroke receiving center with an annual volume of greater than 100,000 patients per year. As such, SJMC cares for the highest volume of the most medically complex and critically ill patients in the Stockton area. Ultrasound has an integral role in the care of our emergency department patients. The ultrasound program at SJMC is young, but energetic and rapidly expanding.
The residents at SJMC receive both early exposure to bedside ultrasound as well as longitudinal training. The experience begins with US Bootcamp where residents learn the skills necessary to perform basic scans before they ever even have a clinical shift. During intern year, residents have a 1 month ultrasound rotation in which they complete scanning shifts with ultrasound faculty, attend formal ultrasound specific didactics, participate in quality assurance and image review, receive training in procedural guidance, solidify fundamentals and begin to shift focus to ultrasound guided resuscitation.
Longitudinally, residents ongoing ultrasound-based didactics in resident conference, continue to scan on shift and can easily reach their required number of scans during their training. An advanced ultrasound elective is available for senior residents to expand their knowledge base. Ultrasound is integrated into their simulation experience through the use of high-fidelity ultrasound manikins with TTE, TEE, TA capabilities.
The emergency department at SJMC is well equipped for point of care ultrasound with several ultrasound units strategically positioned throughout the ED to facilitate prompt clinical ultrasound evaluation and procedural guidance. Clinical and Core faculty at SJMC have a commitment to improving patient care through the utilization of bedside ultrasound and have several active quality improvement and research endeavors underway and look forward to continued growth.
