ASUM initiated and delivered a pathway and accreditation process for point-of-care ultrasound training in Australia and New Zealand. As we are all aware, ultrasound is highly operator dependent and therefore it has been difficult to support training in regional and remote areas, where we know POCUS will make a positive difference to patient outcomes.

We are thrilled to announce a pilot project, proposed by Dr Allan Whitehead, to deliver regional CCPU supervision to enable completion of the CCPU where supervision is not currently accessible.

This pilot project will be limited to 5 candidates (participating in a maximum of 2 modules) in the initial phase. There will be a few additional tasks expected to allow us to measure and refine this opportunity for the future. CCPU modules included in this pilot project are AAA, eFAST, BELS, lung, biliary, renal, proximal DVT, basic early pregnancy. As such we are calling for expressions of interest from potential CCPU candidates with the aim to commence in July 2021.

For the purpose of this pilot project, priority will be given to candidates based in Victoria. However, we would welcome expressions of interest from all areas to enable us to plan for the future and better understand the need and interest in remote supervision.

Expressions of interest close on Wednesday 16 June 2021. All applicants will be contacted following a review of the applications.

Thank you Allan for your thought, collaboration and passion for ultrasound education.

May 3, 2021 – Just over a week ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began notifying healthcare professionals that the ultrasound contrast agents Definity, Definity RT, and Lumason contain polyethylene glycol (PEG) and should not be administered to patients with known or suspected allergies to PEG. Since that time, ASE President Judy Hung, MD, FASE, composed a team of healthcare providers and scientists committed to the well-being of patients to develop a Consensus Statement that is in alignment with ASE’s mission to provide education that improves clinical outcomes.

This statement has been generated to provide our members and all practitioners of echocardiography with information and recommendations that will benefit the safety of patients receiving ultrasound enhancing agents (UEAs). Specifically, this document provides expert opinion on the clinical impact of the recent alert from MedWatch, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) product safety reporting system, on presumed Type I immediate hypersensitivity reactions to the polyethylene glycol (PEG) component of UEAs.

We are pleased to share the recent addition to ASUM’s CCPU offerings and accredited course for the specialty of endocrine.

Dr Anna Story recently ran the pilot of the course for ''Thyroid, parathyroid and cervical node (neck) ultrasound". Anna felt the course ran superbly, with both didactic and hands on elements that enabled a rich learning experience. The course is accredited for the new CCPU non-interventional and interventional endocrine units.

ASUM would like to thank Dr Story and Professor Ian Bennett for developing the new CCPU non-interventional endocrine unit, which is now open for registration.