Location: Nepean Hospital

Date: 18-19 April 2026

Fee*: AUD1,400 (early bird) (AUD1,700 from 18 March 2026)

(Kindly supported by Nepean Hospital ICET and ICU)

Practical Intermediate Echocardiography for Critical Care

Do you have the following questions about Doppler echo?

• How do I perform common measurements using Doppler, e.g. cardiac output, estimating PAP, valvular assessments, LAP…etc?
• How do I know I performing these measurements correctly?
• What does the measurements mean and how do I interpret them?
• I do not quite understand all these advanced courses materials, where can I find help?

If the above questions are troubling you, or if you are the type of person who are obsessed with What? When? and Why? instead of just How?, then PIE for you. 

PIE is a new 2-day intermediate level transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) course targeting not only at more experienced or advanced practitioners but also critical care echo enthusiasts. This intense 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, DDU).

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.  We also have real accredited senior sonographers to teach you in the hands-on sessions.

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

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 ventricular systolic function by Doppler
  • Assessing LV filling pressures
  • Different types of dynamic LV outflow obstructions
  • Pitfalls of Doppler measurements

• Case studies may cover one or more of the following:

• • 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 take have a look at our PIE Handout to get an idea?

Prerequisites and Recommendation

In order to achieve the best learning outcome, we recommend you should have

1. attended a basic level (Level 1) critical care echocardiography course  (e.g. RACEplus), and
2. performed at least 30 TTEs since attended the basic level course, or are comfortable in obtaining the standard TTE views. (No proofs required)

Course accreditation

This course has been approved and/or accredited by the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine,  College of Intensive Care Medicine (Australia & NZ) for CPD/CME purpose.

RACEplus is recognized by ASUM for CCPU (RCE & BELS) purposes, and is approved for 14 ACEM CPD hours.

Note: Participants claiming ACEM CPD hours are also required to submit an ACEM Evaluation Form to the College.

Further information

*Important

1. All fees and payments are in Australian dollars (AUD).
2. The minimum number of participants required for us to run this course is 8.  If the number of registrations is less than 8, please check with our Event Secretary and see if the course is going ahead.
3. Upon registration and payment, you agree to be bound by our Terms & Conditions, and  Cancellation & Refund policies.

Optional reading materials (Not included)

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

Upon requests previously, we negotiated with the seller to sell the book at AUD200 (~20% off the RRP) to PIE participants.  We will STOP selling the book ~4-6 weeks prior to the course to make sure the books arrive in time for the workshop.  Please include the book in your oder if you are interested, the number of copies available are limited.   The book will be handed out on the first day of workshop.