Family Medicine Los Angeles Medical Center - POCUS

POCUS Curriculum

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is often called “the stethoscope of the 21^st century” but it is so much more than that.  POCUS is rapidly evolving into a ubiquitous bedside tool that catapults patient care to a new lightning speed and to a new standard never seen before. It decreases patient exposure to ionizing radiation, improves patient-clinician relationships, and evolves patient management algorithms to maximize diagnoses and treatment. At the KPLA Family Medicine Residency Program, our POCUS program aims to provide the most updated and full-scope POCUS learning and evidence-based medicine. Our POCUS program requires dedicated resident involvement throughout the entire 3 years of your residency. We welcome your feedback regarding our POCUS curriculum throughout your residency career and beyond so that we can continue building and growing our POCUS expertise and utilization to the highest standard.

The Core POCUS Curriculum includes:

• PGY-1
  • Inpatient Ultrasound Rounds
  • Labor and Delivery
  • Weekly 2-on-1 teaching during your Selective
• PGY-2
  • 4 x 4-hour Educational Sessions
  • Inpatient Ultrasound Rounds
  • Gynecology
  • Prenatal Clinic
  • Sports Medicine
• PGY-3
  • 4 x 4-hour Educational Sessions
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Prenatal Clinic
  • Sports Medicine
• 200+ online education videos with questions throughout all 3 years
• Review of ultrasound images with feedback

There is an optional Ultrasound Track that for an intensive 1-year (Year 3) OR a 2-year (Years 2 & 3) program. This is offered to 2 residents a year. The program consists of:

• 1 dedicated GE Vscan Air
• q2mo check-in sessions with QA image review & direct observation
• Pre- and post-test
• Completion of 200+ online modules
• Completion of 2500+ Qbank
• Career mentorship, including CV review
• SCPMG Regional POCUS Conference Presentation
• Optional: Quality Improvement or Research Project
• Optional: Attendance and/or presentation at various regional, national, and international conferences

Meet Dr. Nguyen

Our Ultrasound Director, Dr. Natalie Nguyen, practices full-scope point-of-care ultrasound and has 15 years of ultrasound experience. She completed a combined Emergency Medicine & Family Medicine POCUS Fellowship at The Ohio State University. She has a passion for POCUS education as well as broad-scope POCUS development at KPLA. Dr. Natalie Nguyen, Dr. Natalie Mourra, Dr. Maya Mitchell (Program Director), Dr. Andrea Yanez (Assistant Program Director), and Dr. Tara Thacker create our KPLA FM ultrasound faculty who also have, in addition to POCUS, their own other unique special interests.