Location: ICET, Nepean Hospital, Sydney

Date:  13 – 14 July 2024

Fee: AUD1,600

Practical Intermediate Echocardiography for Critical Care

PIE is a new 2-day intermediate level transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) course targeting at more experienced or advanced practitioners. This course is particularly useful to:

• Practitioners who are already performing basic level echo but would like to advance their skills and apply Doppler echo in their clinical examinations.
• Practitioners who are already performing Doppler echo but want to perfect their Doppler skills or want to learn more on assessments using proper Doppler measurements.
• Practitioners who want to prepare for advanced critical care echocardiography qualifications (e.g. EDEC).

Our trainers are established international and local experts, such as supervisors for Advanced qualifications (e.g. EDEC, DDU), who have plenty of experience in teaching echocardiography.

This course differs from most other courses in that the hands-on sessions are very interactive, full of fun and challenges.  Candidates are requested to complete the tasks listed in the PIE workbook in the hands-on sessions.

If you are the type of person always ask What? When? and Why? instead of just How?, then this course is tailor-made for you.

Course content
The course covers basic principles and clinical topics, with the emphasis on Doppler assessments. Topics* may include:

• Core topics:

• • Revisiting anatomy and views in TTE, and probe navigation
  • Principles of Doppler & tissue Doppler
  • Cardiac output measurements by Doppler
  • The Bernoulli’s equation and assumptions
  • Pulmonary artery pressure estimations
  • Tissue Doppler and applications
  • Mean pressure gradient, pressure half-time, and their applications in valvular assessments
  • The continuity equation and its applications
  • Assessing LV filling pressures
  • Different types of dynamic LV outflow obstructions
  • Pitfalls of Doppler measurements

• Clinical topics &/or Case studies (to be decided by local organisers):

• • Shock
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sepsis
  • Chest pain
  • Pulmonary oedema
  • Pulmonary embolism and hypertension
  • Valvular assessments for critical care

Still wondering what we do in the course?  Why not have a look at our PIE Handbook?

Prerequisites and Recommendation

In order to achieve the best learning outcome, you should:

1. have attended a basic level (Level 1) critical care echocardiography course  (e.g. RACEplus), and
2. have performed at least 30 TTEs since attended the basic level course.

(Note: you do not need to show proof)

Course accreditation

This course has been approved/accredited by various Colleges and Societies, including College of Intensive Care Medicine (Australia & NZ), Australasian College of Emergency Medicine*, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, HK College of Emergency Medicine and HK College of Anaesthesiologists for CPD/CME purpose.  

*The Practical Intermediate Echocardiography (PIE) workshop is approved for 14 ACEM CPD hours.

Further information

Click here for further information and program.

Reading materials (Not included)

Oxford Textbook of Advanced Critical Care Echocardiography (Anthony McLean, Stephen Huang, and Andrew Hilton eds) (2020).  RRP £130 (~AUD240).

Note: We managed to negotiate with the seller to sell the book at AUD210 (~15% off the RRP) to our PIE participants.  We will STOP selling the book from 20 June 2023 to make sure the books arrive in time for the workshop.  Please include the book in your order if you are interested.   The book will be handed out on the first day of workshop.