Emergency Medicine reaccredited for point-of-care ultrasound

American College of Emergency Physicians designation recognizes standard of excellence

The UCI Department of Emergency Medicine is proud to announce its re-accreditation by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) for point-of-care ultrasound.

This accreditation program is meant to identify and recognize emergency departments that have met a standard of excellence in ultrasound quality, communication, image acquisition and image interpretation.

UCI was the seventh U.S. emergency department to receive this prestigious accolade. Less than 40 in the United States have been given this designation.

UCI has a long-standing tradition of point of care ultrasound. The point-of-care ultrasound program was originally started in 2003 by current interim chair, Dr. Chris Fox.

Point-of-care ultrasound teaching begins at the UCI School of Medicine with a four-year, point-of-care ultrasound curriculum. Training extends into the Emergency Department with the Emergency Ultrasound elective for fourth-year medical students.

The department also trains two point-of-care ultrasound fellows a year.

Emergency Ultrasound Director Dr. Shadi Lahham has also established a year-long, point-of-care ultrasound curriculum for the Emergency Medicine Residency.

There are over 250 point-of-care ultrasound performed per week in the ED, which has improved patient care, decreased length of stay and improved patient outcome.

Additionally, UCI has published over 30 point-of-care ultrasound studies on the use of point-of-care ultrasound in improving emergency patient care.