Creating a culture of shared POCUS learning amongst the Acute Medicine MDT
For over ten years Andy has been developing POCUS at the Royal Berks. Not only has Andy practiced POCUS in his day to day clinical practice, he has also put many clinicians through the FICE and FAMUS courses he has run. During the last few years he created ultrasound fellowships for doctors keen to become competent in ultrasound skills.
Joe became the Acute Medicine Ultrasound Fellow in February 2020 having already learnt lung ultrasound from Andy. When the COVID pandemic washed over the UK a few weeks later, the groundwork had thus been laid at the Royal Berks for a massive expansion of POCUS.
Andy and Joe worked together to organize the purchase and deployment of 25 Butterfly IQ handheld ultrasound devices for COVID, which could then be used to triage patients with COVID. They worked together on the TICC-19 and COVID Virtual Ward project.
This highly successful collaboration and mutual passion for POCUS has led them to develop the POCUS Academy, the aim of which is to create a culture of POCUS in the acute medicine department and beyond.