Ultrasound Fellowship

University of Utah Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship

The University of Utah is a fascinating and dynamic work environment in a level 1 trauma center and regional tertiary referral center, attracting patients from 7 surrounding states. Our emergency department delivers cutting edge care to over 50,000 patients per year, and ultrasound is at the heart of that quality care. This makes our ultrasound fellows a vital part of our team.

An Ultrasound Fellow will acquire competency with all of the applications recommended in ACEP guidelines as well gain the knowledge and experience to become an expert in the application of echocardiography to the critically ill patient. Taking the National Board of Echocardiography’s Critical Care Echocardiography Examination is a requirement during your fellowship and will set you apart as uniquely qualified in your future career as an ultrasound guided resuscitationist. You will also spend dedicated time learning transesophageal echocardiograms and work with other specialties including radiology and the echo lab. This prepares you to take an active role in our ED ECMO program and perform TEE’s for cardiac arrests and guide ECMO cannula placement.

Learning occurs best by teaching, and you’ll have plenty of teaching opportunities during your fellowship year. You will give several ultrasound themed lectures at our weekly EM resident conference throughout the year. Ultrasound fellows and faculty lead weekly ultrasound scanning shifts in the emergency department for both residents and medical students as well as take part in teaching the medical school’s ultrasound curriculum.

Ultrasound fellows participate in multiple conferences throughout the year.

An academic project and attendance at a national conference is also required during your fellowship year. Ongoing research areas include resuscitation models, prehospital portable ultrasound use, point of care echo validation studies, ultrasound in pulmonary embolism, cardiac arrest ultrasound, and ED ECMO. Have your own research project idea? We have the resources to bring your idea to fruition. The University of Utah has a freely available Study Design and Biostatistics Center that our fellows are encouraged to utilize.

As an ultrasound division, we also have loads of fun. We partner with the anesthesia echo fellowship to have occasional integrative educational sessions over dinner and drinks where we gather to nerd out and share our coolest echo cases of the past few months. Also, our ultrasound division ski day is guaranteed to have better snow than any other program in the country.

FAQ’s:Who are the ultrasound trained faculty?

Patrick Ockerse, MD
Emergency Ultrasound Director

Chris Kelly, MD
Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Director

Jenn Cotton, MD
Director of US Curriculum UofU SOM

Jamal Jones, MD
Assistant Professor

David Crockett, MD
Clinical Attending

What are my clinical responsibilities?
Fellows work 8.5 shifts per month split between 3 locations: University of Utah Main Hospital ED, University of Utah South Jordan ED, and Sweetwater Memorial ED in Rock Springs, WY.

Have prior fellows been successful?
(not a full list, but here’s a few examples)

Mike Mallin, MD
St. Charles Emergency Medicine Ultrasound Director
Ultrasoundpodcast.com
Matt Dawson, MD
University of Kentucky Ultrasound Director
Ultrasoundpodcast.com
Matt Lipton, MD
Ultrasound Faculty Vanderbilt University
Phil Craven, MD
Ultrasound Director Sweetwater Memorial Hospital
Elizabeth Rutter, MD
Ultrasound Director Mountain West Hospital and VA Salt Lake
Brian Galovic, MD
Ultrasound Researcher Intermountain Medical Center
Patrick Ockerse, MD
Ultrasound Director University of Utah
James Fair, MD
Ultrasound Fellowship Director University of Utah