Local Fellowship in Critical Care Ultrasound (Adults)

​Local Fellowship in Critical Care Ultrasound (Adults)

Division: Medicine

Department: Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Training Objectives/Goals

This critical care ultrasound (CCUS) training programme is a structured, longitudinal practice and competency-based pathway designed to equip clinicians with the skills to acquire, interpret, and apply point of care cardiac, lung, abdominal, and vascular ultrasound findings in in acutely ill adult patients. There will be Basic (6 month) and Advanced (12 month) CCUS Fellowship options for Physicians and a 6 weeks programme for Nursing (ICU, Emergency Medicine, Acute Medical care) and Allied Health members of a HMDP team.

Skills Training

The Basic Fellowship will comprise training and certification in lung POCUS, lower extremity deep vein thrombosis POCUS, abdomen and focused (level 1) cardiac ultrasound. In the Advanced Fellowship, fellows will receive opportunities to pursue training and certification in advanced (level 2) critical care transthoracic echocardiography, training in focused transesophageal echocardiography and participate in POCUS education and faculty development initiatives.

Fellows will have access to

1. Over 20 multidisciplinary faculty from Respiratory Medicine, Medical and Surgical Intensive Care, Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia, Critical Care Cardiology, Nursing and Allied Health that are internationally certified (FUSIC®, EDEC, NBE, EACVI) and experienced trainers in point of care ultrasound
2. Regular didactic lectures and weekly interprofessional hands-on CCUS teaching sessions on real life patients for directly supervised logbooking
3. Multiple CCUS day workshops organised by our faculty throughout the academic year
4. Clinical rotations in Medical/Surgical ICU where CCUS is integrated into daily intensive care e.g. campus-wide ICU rapid response service, ultrasound guided pleural procedures, PERT, VV and VA-ECMO, cardiothoracic ICU, difficult ventilator weaning and critical care nephrology 
5. Supervisor support for image reviews and logbook sign offs for formal certification e.g. FUSIC®, CCEeXAM or EDEC.
6. Multisource trigger assessment sessions with robust assessment criteria as part of your CCUS certification journey
7. Opportunities to develop as a CCUS educator and clinical service leader in your own institution

National Standards

A 6-months fellowship would allow the Fellow (Physician) to be trained in and certified in:

1. Lung Ultrasound (20-25 hours of learning time)
2. Heart Ultrasound (45-50 hours of learning time)
3. Lower extremity DVT (Deep vein thrombosis) Ultrasound (8-10 hours of learning time)
4. Optional / stretch goal: Abdomen Ultrasound (25 hours of learning time)

A 12-months fellowship would allow the Fellow (Physician) to be trained in and certified in:

1. Lung Ultrasound
2. Heart Ultrasound
3. Lower extremity DVT (Deep vein thrombosis) Ultrasound
4. Optional / stretch goal: Abdomen Ultrasound
5. A level 2 Critical Care Echocardiography qualification (requires about 150-200 hours of learning time) such as
   −  European Diploma of Echocardiography (EDEC), European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM)
   −  Critical Care Echocardiography (CCEeXAM), National Board of Echocardiography (NBE), USA.

6 weeks Fellowship (for Nursing, Allied Health members in a Team HMDP)

1. Lung Ultrasound
2. Lower extremity DVT (Deep vein thrombosis) Ultrasound
3. Optional/ stretch goal: Heart Ultrasound

Training Duration 

6 months (Basic) or 12 months (Advanced)

Number of Fellowship Offered Per Year 

2

Admission Criteria

• Possess valid practicing license with the Singapore Medical Council
• Registered under the Register of Specialists with Specialist Accreditation Board (SAB) in Intensive Care Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Internal Medicine, Anaesthesia and Emergency Medicine.