Course description
WINFOCUS FoCUS© is a course on the cardiac component of PoCUS specifically designed for critical care and emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, acute cardiac care clinicians, and all healthcare providers dealing with cardiovascular emergencies.
The course is targeted at those who are new to cardiac ultrasound. It covers the use of limited Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE) in cardiac arrest, peri-resuscitation, and shock and as a screening tool for unstable patients in the ICU or any emergency setting.
It might also be of interest to more experienced echocardiographers interested in making the ultrasound investigation of the critically ill patient more efficacious and ALS-compliant.
The course (formerly known as WINFOCUS Basic Echo, WBE) has reached its 124th edition since 2008 and has been delivered in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Its educational content conforms to the proceedings of the 1st International Consensus Conference on Focused Cardiac UltraSound (Via G, Hussain A, Wells M, et al. International Evidence-Based Recommendations for Focused Cardiac Ultrasound – J AM SOC ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY 2014).
As an additional benefit, it prepares for WINFOCUS FoCUS© International Certification.
Course Content
The course covers the essentials principles of cardiac ultrasonography. Starting from the concept of FoCUS and how it relates to comprehensive echocardiography the course describes to how to scan and operate the controls of the ultrasound machine.
It then teaches students how to detect the main targets of the FoCUS exam.
These targets are the signs of chronic cardiac disease, LV systolic dysfunction, RV systolic dysfunction, intravascular fluid status, gross valvular dysfunction, and intra-cardiac masses.
Finally, the course provides students with clear, succinct, practical guidance on how to apply FoCUS in the management of their patients with shock, cardiac arrest, chest pain and respiratory failure.
Starting from:
€34 WINFOCUS members
€49 Non members
(6 months access)
Course Outline
- Introduction to the WINFOCUS FoCUS Course
- FoCUS: Definition, Goals, and Targets of the Exam
- FoCUS: How to scan
- FoCUS: How to control ultrasound machines (Knobology)
- FoCUS Signs of Chronic Cardiac Disease
- FoCUS Signs of LV Systolic Dysfunction
- FoCUS Assessment of Intravascular Fluid Status
- FoCUS Signs of Pericardial Effusion and Tamponade
- FoCUS Signs of Obvious Valvular Pathology, Intracardiac Masses
- FoCUS in Cardiac Arrest
- FoCUS in Shock
This is what attendees say about the FoCUS course:
(tested on a sample of 1455 physicians)
Learning Tools
A series of engaging video-lectures covers the theoretical background required to practice FoCUS over a total of 13+hours training time.
The relevant scientific literature that supports each lecture is highlighted, with direct links to Pubmed.
Post-lecture quizzes supplement the video-lectures. The detailed explanations of the answers to the quizzes reinforce important learning points.
Additional video resources help students “train their eyes” to recognize normal features and pathological findings.
Downloadable cheat sheets, infographics, checklists, and report sheets support the use of FoCUS in clinical practice. Students can use these resources to revise the major concepts taught in this course and to apply FoCUS at the bedside in routine clinical practice.
Interactive thought-provoking cases are included, These are based on real patients The clinical scenarios are described in detail. Step-wise revelations of data and the progression of the case mimics clinical practice These cases teach students how to correctly implement FoCUS use in critically ill patients. The cases cover the appropriateness of use, scanning technique and knobology, the detection of ultrasound findings, pattern-recognition, pathophysiological diagnoses, and clinical-ultrasound integrated etiological diagnosis.