Denver Health Medical Center

We are a EUFAC accredited, one-year program designed to train leaders in emergency ultrasound.

Our program is built on the foundation of over 20 years of clinical excellence in bedside ultrasound use, research and educational publications related to emergency ultrasound, and a faculty that is dedicated to the principle that ultrasound is integral to every emergency physician’s clinical practice.

Our fellows work primarily at Denver Health- the oldest continuously operating hospital in Colorado. In addition to being a Level 1 Trauma Center, Denver Health is a comprehensive, integrated organization dedicated to providing level one care for all, regardless of ability to pay.

Denver Health is also home to a 4 year emergency medicine residency program, one of the oldest training programs in the country.

2007

Our US program and team belong to the Department of Emergency Medicine at Denver Health

4 core faculty at Denver Health
>10 US trained faculty divided between Denver Health, University of Colorado, and Children's Hospital Colorado

Matthew Riscinti (Ultrasound Director, Fellowship Director)
Amanda Toney (Pediatric Ultrasound Director, Pediatric EM US Fellowship Director)
Nhu-Nguyen Le (Assistant Fellowship Director)
Fred Milgrim (Director of Residency US Education)
Molly Thiessen (Denver Health, former Fellowship Director)
Juliana Wilson (University of Colorado)
Joseph Brown (University of Colorado)
Ryan Tucker (University of Colorado)
Michael Heffler (University of Colorado)
Vaughn Browne (University of Colorado)
Sam Lam (Children's Hospital Colorado)

We aim to train fellows who will become globally recognized, innovative leaders in ultrasound through technological innovation, educational design, multidisciplinary collaboration, and scholarship.

Upon completion of our program, each fellow will:

1) Demonstrate expertise in all AEMUS core and advanced topics as delineated by ABEM
2) Develop skills in curriculum development, public speaking, and content creation that are grounded in contemporary educational principles.
3) Understand core aspects of ultrasound administration including quality assurance, program systems, billing and coding, and economics.
4) Understand and engage in all aspects of ultrasound scholarship including emerging technologies, research and dissemination of academic work, and literature appraisal.

First, we aim for our fellows to become excellent sonologist and content experts. Clinical and scanning shifts will primarily take place in the adult and pediatric emergency departments at Denver Health Medical Center (DHMC) where fellows will care for a diverse and high acuity patient population.

There are additional opportunities to scan at University of Colorado, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and Winter Park Medical Center. Fellows are given additional training opportunities with the OB department, Sports Medicine Clinic, and Cardiac Anesthesiology in the OR.

All together, our fellows have numerous clinical ultrasound environments and opportunities to advance their skills.

Second, we aim to develop our fellows into skilled educators. This is accomplished through exposure to a variety of experiences in curriculum development, presentation design and lecture delivery, and content creation.

Our faculty and fellows run and develop 7 different ultrasound curricula.

1. Denver EM Residents
2. Denver EM Faculty
3. Children's Hospital of Colorado Pediatric Residents
4. Advanced Practice Providers (PAs/NPs within our department)
5. Prehospital Providers (some of whom are using portable ultrasound in their ambulances)
6. Medical Students at University of Colorado School of Medicine
7. Remote US fellowship throughout Guatemala (telemedicine and cloud based).

Each fellow will serve as a Course Director for one CME offering in addition to participating in numerous ultrasound courses given locally, regionally, and nationally.

Our faculty also work closely with our fellows to complete an educational design project. Fellows will have individualized feedback and mentorship on all presentations and content creation.

The third aspect of the fellowship program is devoted to administrative education. We have helped create and implement the world's first, academic, cloud-based system that integrates multiple different ultrasound systems, PACS, and the EMR. This mature system allows our team to credential and privilege, document and bill, and perform QA all on one system. The fellow will learn how this system works and how to build similar systems in the future.

Furthermore, this system has been implemented across hospital specialties yielding innumerable opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and education.

The fourth and final component to the fellowship is focused on scholarly activity. The fellow will be expected to formulate, initiate, and complete one original research project. In order to accomplish this, the fellow will have access to a rich clinical environment, a research associate program, statistical support, and attending staff with strong academic backgrounds.

Many of our ongoing projects involve nerve blocks, prehospital ultrasound utilization, resuscitative ultrasound, US education, tele-guidance in ultrasound, and artificial intelligence in the quest of decreasing operator dependence.

Yes - we have a comprehensive, fully integrated cloud based system that allows for full documentation and billing.

No - follow up imaging is performed only when clinically indicated.