Guidelines for Cardiac Sonographer Education: Report of the American Society of Echocardiography Sonographer Education and Training Committee

Gardner, Carolyn Janko; Brown, Susan; Hagen-Ansert, Sandra L.; Harrigan, Pamela; Kisslo, Joseph; Kisslo, Kitty; Kwan, Oi Ling; Menapace, Francis J.; Otto, Catherine N.; Pandian, Natesa G.; Pearlman, Alan J.; Skelly, Andrea C.; Stevenson, Geoffrey

doi:10.1016/s0894-7317(14)80331-3

Cited by 30 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Professional organizations including the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the American College of Emergency Physicians have established guidelines for gaining independent competency in echocardiography and HCU echo 21–23 . For specific HCU training, the ASE recommends that persons who use this modality for cardiovascular education or self‐instruction have at least Level I training (performing 75 examinations and personally interpreting 150 examinations) 24 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pilot Study of the Clinical Impact of Hand‐Carried Cardiac Ultrasound in the Medical Clinic

2006

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pilot Study of the Clinical Impact of Hand‐Carried Cardiac Ultrasound in the Medical Clinic

2006

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“…Presently there are guidelines for independent competency in echocardiography and HCU established by several professional organizations including the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) 11–13 . For specific HCU training the ASE recommends that persons who use HCU for cardiovascular education or self‐instruction have at least Level 1 training (performing 75 examinations and personally interpreting 150 exams) 14 .…”

Section: Guidelines and Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Hand‐Carried Ultrasound Devices be Extended for Use by the Noncardiology Medical Community?

2003

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Echocardiography (echo) is a powerful, noninvasive, inexpensive diagnostic imaging technique that provides important information in a variety of cardiovascular diseases. Echo provides rapid information regarding ventricular and valvular function in the clinical management of patients. Smaller, relatively inexpensive hand-carried cardiac ultrasound (HCU) devices have become commercially available, which can be used for diagnostic cardiac imaging. Because of their relative ease of use, portability, and affordable cost, these new hand-held systems have made point-of-care (bedside) echocardiography available to all medical personnel. The rate-limiting step to the widespread use of this technology is the lack of personnel with echo training at the immediate contact point with patients. Although extensive training and experience are needed to acquire and interpret a complete echo, training medical personnel to perform and interpret a limited echo (defined as a brief, diagnosis focused exam) may fully exploit the potential of echo as a point-of-care diagnostic tool and may be accomplished in a short period of time. Presently there are guidelines for independent competency in echocardiography and HCU echo established by several professional organizations and as a result of these rigorous guidelines, other noncardiology medical professionals who could practically derive the greatest benefit are discouraged and virtually precluded from utilizing echo during the initial encounter with the patient. However, there is now a growing body of literature in a diverse group of noncardiology medical personnel that demonstrates that it is possible to quickly and effectively train them to perform and interpret limited echocardiograms. Medical students, medical residents, cardiology fellows with limited experience, emergency department physicians, and surgical intensive care unit staff have all been evaluated after only brief, focused training periods, and investigators found that HCU echo provided important new information, changed therapeutic management, and was vastly superior to the physical exam alone with an acceptable overall level of accuracy. The contribution of echocardiography to the field of cardiovascular disease since its invention has been significant and the newer compact, portable, ultrasound systems have the potential to revolutionize the utilization and availability of echocardiography. To maximize integration of echo into medical practice, physicians and physician extenders could be trained to perform and interpret limited echo to complement their clinical examination and improve their diagnostic skills. The challenge is to provide practical training programs to assure competency in performing point of care echocardiograms.

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“…This simple transition greatly facilitated the use of echocardiography. It also resulted in the need for advanced training and knowledge of cardiac sonographers, who routinely make clinical judgments and modifications of the basic cardiac examination "on the fly" [21][22][23]. This same level of skill and autonomy must become the standard for CMR technologists who need to be proficient at performing a comprehensive CMR examination without the immediate supervision of the physician.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing MRI to the cardiologist: Can we learn from echocardiography?

Sorrell

2005

Curr Cardiol Rep

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Cardiac MRI (CMR) is a low-risk, comprehensive diagnostic tool that has many similarities with echocardiography. It is noninvasive, lacks ionizing radiation, and the contrast material used to enhance various images does not have any renal toxicity. Although extremely valuable in the diagnosis of neurologic and musculoskeletal diseases for more than two decades, CMR has only recently become relevant for diagnosing the rapidly beating and constantly mobile heart. Through advances in cardiac gating and high-speed acquisition software, CMR is positioning itself as a critical utensil at the cardiovascular disease banquet. However, like echocardiography, currently celebrating its 50th birthday, CMR is likely to suffer occasional growing pains, along with its share of accomplishments. Therefore, those practicing CMR should learn from the past errors and achievements of echocardiography in an effort to deliver the most rewarding diagnostic instrument imaginable, without having to wait 50 years.

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Guidelines for Cardiac Sonographer Education: Report of the American Society of Echocardiography Sonographer Education and Training Committee

Cited by 30 publications

References 1 publication

A Pilot Study of the Clinical Impact of Hand‐Carried Cardiac Ultrasound in the Medical Clinic

A Pilot Study of the Clinical Impact of Hand‐Carried Cardiac Ultrasound in the Medical Clinic

Can Hand‐Carried Ultrasound Devices be Extended for Use by the Noncardiology Medical Community?

Bringing MRI to the cardiologist: Can we learn from echocardiography?

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