Ultrasound Interpretation Courses for Physicians

Interpretation of the Adult Echocardiogram

Interpretation of Carotid and Vertebral Duplex Ultrasound

Interpretation of the Abdominal, Peripheral and Cerebrovascular Ultrasound Testing

The process of interpretation of the ultrasound examination is evolved from direct knowledge of fundamental processes, data acquisition, clinical science, and differential diagnosis. Although you may link directly to sites for specific detailed information below, we strongly recommend that you visit our Career Training Plans area, with information tailored to the your strategic long-term goals. Note also that special ongoing arrangements can be made for Resident Training Programs. Custom Tutorial Training can also be arranged at your own site (or any destination of your choosing). 

"This was targeted to my needs as a primary clinician. You showed us how to use ultrasound as a supplement to our own knowledge rather than teach us how to issue a term paper style report that no one can understand and I can't use. Thank you." Elaine Steinmetz, M.D., New York City, New York

Interpretation and Reporting of the Adult Echocardiogram

Provides a systematic framework of thought in which to evaluate data quality, measure dimensions and flow patterns, and integrate findings into a clear, concise report. Open to technologists and physicians. 

Echocardiography has been changed forever. The reality behind this fact has a very practical basis: Reimbursement for both professional and technical component services will be linked to credentialing of both facilities and the people who staff them, from the physician to the technologist.

Approximately one half of the physicians who take the American Society of Echocardiography national credentialing exam fail it. Included in this group are some of the brightest minds in cardiology, thus illuminating a significant shortcoming of the technical educational process available to them.

In August 1997, the Intersocietal Commission for Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories began the process of voluntary credentialing of all echo facilities, regardless of the basis of their location. Shortly afterward, Third Party payers across the United States began announcing their intention to restrict payment based on credentialing and certification.  As of 2000 several states have already linked Medicare reimbursement to professional certification and facility credentialing.

Regardless of your previous training, you will benefit immensely from this systematic mindset approach to echocardiographic analysis. 

Our focus in this course is to present for you a systematic approach to cardiac ultrasound data analysis.  We will build the differential diagnosis through the interrelationship of clinical findings with the primary and secondary findings of M-Mode, 2-D, and Doppler data. Your flexible learning experience will integrate dynamic lectures with case examples in every categorical area of function. Complete written course materials will preserve every element of discourse for your future review. 

Class runs from 8:30 am to 4 p.m. the first days and from 8:30 am to 3 p.m. on day two. Your tuition includes comprehensive course materials for lifelong reference, complimentary continental breakfast daily and light lunch (for courses scheduled on M-F). All of your time will be spent in the classroom environment in a highly interactive format. Through the use of slide and lecture presentations we will carefully apply a common, systematic approach to the assessment of each categorical pathological state which might involve the heart. You will have multiple opportunities to privately assess your own level of skill in the analysis and concise reporting of data. 

Ten to fifteen Guests usually comprise the class. Your peers will likely include physicians from internal medicine and cardiology backgrounds as well as experienced technologists. This is not a hands-on seminar. Your entry-level or advanced hands-on skills can be refined in either our Hands-On Cardiac Imaging or Cardiac Doppler courses conducted continuously throughout the year. (Available also as a Custom Tutorial)

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Interpretation of the Carotid & Vertebral Duplex Ultrasound
Some important facts have already altered how we will perform vascular ultrasound: 

1) Medicare has recommended that effective January 1, 1998, all fifty states require credentialing of all technologist staff as a prerequisite to facility reimbursement; 

2) Already, more and more HMO’s, PPO’s and private insurance carriers are requiring ICAVL (Intersocietal Commission for Accreditation of Cardiovascular Laboratories) facility credentialing as a prerequisite to reimbursement; and 

3) ICAVL expects the physician director of the lab to undergo a formal program of targeted instruction in the interpretation of tests and maintain continuing education in the field.

New patient selection criteria from the NASCET (North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial) and ACAS (the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study) multicenter studies have pushed the threshold for aggressive patient management to lower and lower levels of disease, requiring of us more than just a working knowledge of "hemodynamically significant" stenosis. Update your knowledge quickly in a friendly, small-class-size setting stimulated by didactic and inter-active discussion. Our Cast faculty have worked with the technology from the time it was an experimental prototype, and have made significant contributions to the directions it has taken. In fact, this course has been conducted continuously since its debut in 1983.

This is not a hands-on seminar. Your entry-level or advanced hands-on skills can be refined in either our Hands-On Carotid and Vertebral Duplex Imaging course conducted continuously at our facilities in Dallas and Orlando.

Class runs from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm the first day and from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm the second day (which includes a working lunch). Interactive classroom lectures emphasize the basic science and mindset necessary to interpret and report complex pathologic processes as they occur. Fifteen to twenty-five Guests usually comprise the class. Your peers will likely include both physicians and experienced technologists, representing every related area of the field

Note: This course convenes at 1:00 pm  on Saturday and concludes on Sunday afternoon.  It is preceded immediately by PV Interpretation, described immediately above.

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Interpretation and Reporting of Abdominal, Peripheral and Cerebrovascular Ultrasound Testing.

Cardiology and traditional Primary Care have now expanded to encompass the complete vascular disease spectrum. It does not matter your specialty: this course is open to physicians and technologists from any field.

Whether you are interested in the skills and responsibility of
issuing a formal report or simply focused on what test to order, when and why, this course is dedicated to you. Simply put, you’ll learn the core that makes up both the substance and verbiage of ultrasound tests in the areas of AAA, renal artery disease, and peripheral arterial/venous testing. Not a single word will be spoken in excess, and not a single element of diagnosis will be overlooked. The course has been taught and updated by the same faculty since 1983.

Class runs from 8:30-4pm the first day and from 8:30 to 3pm on day two. Complimentary breakfast is provided daily and a complimentary light lunch is served during courses scheduled during weekdays. This will be one of the most effective uses of your precious time. Class size is small enough (less than a dozen) to permit discussion, lecture is lively and on target, and comprehensive course materials serve as a lifelong resource.

Post conference technical support is provided in perpetuity, as is personal answers to any questions you ever have. This course is presented live throughout the year by identical faculty and can be conducted for your group on site anywhere upon request.

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