I’m a gastroenterologist and I’ve recently added a new technique to what I do. I look after a lot of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal ultrasound, which is sort of a subspecialty within ultrasound. This is being performed now by a lot of clinicians rather than ultrasonography, and it is a new area which I’ve sort of become involved in. 

I realized that I don’t have enough of a broad approach, so I wanted to upskill my understanding of that. Because I’m very new to it, I almost want to go back to basics and get an understanding of the science behind it and learn the physiology, and then specifically move into an area where I wouldn’t get in my own specialty since didn’t want to miss other pathologies. 

It was important for me to have a broader understanding, so I was looking for a general course in ultrasound and I actually found AHEC’s Primary Care/Abdominal Ultrasound class on the Internet. This course looked to me like the most appealing from the description. I took a bit of a gamble because there’s no one for me to speak to in Australia about the specific course, but I thought it was exactly what I wanted. It was something small and niche, and it looked to me like it was very professionally run. In terms of the structure, it seemed perfect for what I was looking for. 

The course has been fabulous. It’s turned out to be almost one on one for me for three days, so it’s been terrific. Apart from the fact I think Shawn’s a terrific guy and we’ve gotten on very well, camaraderie wise, etc, I also think the actual course is very, very well structured. 

I thought the structure of the courses was very well done. It started off with basics and things like learning how to use a machine, and then it moved into specific clinical areas. And then the afternoon, scanning with the models was fabulous because they’re all very cooperative, but also being able to translate what we’ve done in the morning into sessions in the afternoon was a really great learning experience. So the overall course has been exceptional for me.

If you’re looking for an ultrasound class, check out our upcoming schedule! In addition to our Primary Care/Abdominal Ultrasound class, AHEC also has ultrasound classes for Emergency Medicine, UGVA, Focused FAST, Renal, Hepato-Biliary, OBGYN, Echocardiography, Breast, and more. You can also get a private ultrasound for any of your preferred modalities.