CPoCUS Independent Practitioner (IP) – DIAGNOSTIC & MUSCULOSKELETAL

Certification Ultrasound 3-Day Course (50 Scans & IP Exams)

 June 11 to 13, 2025

The certification course in the advanced diagnostic and MSK skills for Independent Practitioner status is now here in Manitoba in high demand!

Do you have a desire to push your ultrasound skills to a new level? The Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Manitoba is pleased to deliver the Canadian-Point- of-Care-Ultrasound Society (CPoCUS) IP Diagnostic & MSK Certification course!

Applications covered will include gallbladder, renal/bladder, DVT, ocular, soft tissue and specific MSK applications. In our state-of-the-art simulation facility, experienced instructors will supervise your scans over two full days, while offering tips, tricks, and pearls for image acquisition, interpretation, and clinical integration.  On the third and final day of the course you will be tested via a national set of written, practical, and visual exams to ensure you are ready for that next patient with nonspecific epigastric pain, possible renal colic, unilateral leg swelling, visual disturbance, cellulitis with suspicion of abscess or MSK injury. All of these common but often ambiguous presentations will benefit from your newfound sonographic skills!

Goals & Objectives

Firstly, the goals of the course are to provide participants with the opportunity to obtain determinate ultrasound scans in the following areas as required for IP Diagnostic certification:

• Gallbladder – 40
• Renal (20) / bladder (20)
• DVT – 40
• Ocular – 20
• Skin & soft tissue infection (2)

Joints & Fractures:

• Glenohumeral joint (dislocation) – 7
• Elbow (effusion) – 7
• Wrist (effusion) & Distal radius (fracture) – 5
• Hip (effusion) – 5
• Knee (effusion) – 5
• Ankle (effusion) – 5
• Humerus (fracture) – 3
• Femur (fracture) – 3

Secondly, the national CPoCUS certification exams for IP-Diagnostic & MSK status will provide the participant with the recognition and understanding to be a leader in their own center and proctor scans for other learners.

The CPoCUS set of written, visual, and standardized practical exams of a patient are all conducted one-on-one with an instructor.

This course will strive to include model patients with pathology with gallstones, renal stones / cysts, SSTIs, and joint effusions.

Competency in these areas of point of care ultrasound has been recognized as being a valuable part of the clinical evaluation of various clinical presentations. The scans obtained during this course are recognized by the Canadian Point of Care Ultrasound Society (CPoCUS (http://www.cpocus.ca).

This course is accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Participants will be entitled to Section 3 credits.

Format

The course runs over 3 days, from 8am – 5pm, which includes a brief welcome and lecture on the first day, and a catered lunch on all 3 days.

This course is organized to maximize “hands on” time with patients, as ultrasound image generation and interpretation are the focus of the first 2-days of the course. Two participants will be located in each room, along with a proctor, a model, and an ultrasound machine. Both participants are expected to scan the areas of interest in the time provided, before moving on to the next room to repeat the process.

The third day is the administration of the 3 sets of CPoCUS national exams (written/visual/practical) including any top-up scans required by the participants. The CPoCUS written exam is online thus, it is imperative that each participant must register for an active membership with CPoCUS (if they don’t already have one). This will be the responsibility of the participants and must be done prior to the course. Cost of registration for new membership is $25 and $125 for membership renewal. The DEM is not responsible for costs due to organizational membership fees (ie. CAEP, ACEP, CPoCUS, etc). Without your active membership registration with CPoCUS, you will not be able to access the written exam at our course. The link for membership registration with CPoCUS is: https://www.cpocus.ca/plans/plans-and- pricing/

Once a participant has successfully passed our IP course, they will receive a certificate from the University of Manitoba as it is a CPoCUS training center. The results will also be submitted to CPoCUS. Each participant will then receive a separate email from CPoCUS for issuance of their IP registration number and certificate.

Please note: this is a FAST-paced course and as such, we strive to stay on time. Please keep this in mind for start times, and when returning from the lunch break.

Cost & Registration

 The cost for the 3-full day CPoCUS IP-Diagnostic course is $5000 per participant.

Note: As mentioned above in the course format, there is a separate membership registration fee from CPoCUS of $125.

Please note, the registration is on a first come, first serve basis and be aware your registration is not fully complete until the payment has been received in full & confirmed.

Pre-course preparation

As this course focuses ONLY on the “hands on” image acquisition and interpretation component for specific point of care ultrasound applications, it is expected that the participants will come to the IP certification course after completing a nationally recognized introductory ultrasound course with a basic understanding of ultrasound physics, knobology, image acquisition, and the applications in question (ie. gallbladder, renal/bladder, DVT, ocular, soft tissue, & specified MSK applications). In addition to the theoretical content of the introductory course, the participants should also have a hands-on practice component of at least 5 proctored scans completed for the above 5 indications. This component is often integrated into a formal introductory course. The completion of an introductory course will ensure consolidation of the basic foundation and skills, prior to the rapid pace of this 3-day long course. A certificate of completion of an introductory course must be submitted for confirmation.

As part of your course registration for the IP DIAGNOSTIC & MSK course, you will be provided with a complimentary iTunes card for the purchase of the iEDE Book – Point of Care Ultrasound for Emergency Physicians by Socransky & Wiss. Please read the pertinent textbook chapters for review as needed.

Some available pre-requisite introductory ultrasound course resources include but are not limited to those listed below. For a full listing of CPoCUS-approved courses, visit http://www.cpocus.ca

Live Courses (theoretical content & hands-on practice components)

1. Emergency Department Echo (EDE) course: http://www.edecourse.com
2. Emergency and Critical Care Ultrasound (ECCU) course: http://www.emergorg.uk/8.ht ml
3. Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians Emergency Department Targeted Ultrasound (EDTU): http://caep.ca/cpdcme/roadshows-current- cme/edtu

Online courses (theoretical content only)

EDE-2 ONLINE didactic modules can be arranged through the U of M ultrasound course director in collaboration with Dr. Steve Socransky. The online course registration is $500 + GST/PST = $525) per participant. Please note that the pre- requisite hands-on practice scanning from the intro EDE 2 course will be incorporated into our 3-day IP course at the U of M. You will lifetime access to EDE Online.

Canadian Organizations

1. Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP): caep.ca
2. Canadian Point of Care Ultrasound Society (CPoCUS): cpocus.ca

Disclaimer

The course organizer and instructors will work diligently to ensure that all participants from the course feel proficient and competent in the Diagnostic applications to help them successfully complete their IP certification. However, the participants will also be held responsible to ensure that they are committed to learning and understanding the high standards for PoCUS. Thus, there is no guarantee that participants will get an “automatic pass” from sitting the CPoCUS exams once at the course. Although rare,  but if a participant is severely struggling to pass their IP exams or unable to grasp the skill of PoCUS image generation despite extra supports from the course, the participant may have to sit another course to obtain their IP certification at their own cost.

Following the pandemic, the University has implemented meticulous guidelines to ensure the safety of all course attendees. Polices with PPE use will be followed at the course. Although the PoCUS CPD courses at U of M has always strived to ensure clinical integration with “pathology patient models,” due to CoVID, we will balance the recruitment of pathology models with the safety of all course attendees.

If the course was canceled due to low registration, participants will receive their cancellation refund in full.

Location

The IP-Diagnostic Certification Ultrasound Course is delivered at the University of Manitoba’s Clinical Learning and Simulation Facility, located in the basement of the Brodie Centre at 727 McDermot Avenue.

Cancellation Policy

 The course is very resource intensive, with much effort being provided by the Department of Emergency Medicine. There are a limited number of spots for each course, and it can be difficult to find participants to fill spots that open up due to cancellation. In light of this, cancellations greater than 8 weeks from the course date will receive a FULL refund, minus $200. administration fee.

Cancellations with 6-8 weeks of the course date will receive a 50% refund, and there are no refunds for cancellations less than 6 weeks from the course date.

Participants who have registered may transfer their registration to another person, but this responsibility lies with the original participant. We will try to help find a replacement, but in the event one cannot be found, participants WILL NOT receive a refund (if within 6 weeks of the course). Please contact Anthony Ochoa at 204-881- 1715 or anthony.ochoa@umanitoba.ca for any cancellation and transfer requests.

The DEM reserves the right to cancel a course due to low enrolment or other circumstances that would make the event non-viable. If the DEM cancels a course, registrants will be offered a full refund or transfer registration to an alternative course.

Continuing Medical Education Credits

This activity is an Accredited Simulation Activity (Section 3) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada, and approved by the CPD Medicine Program, University of Manitoba. You may claim a maximum of 24 hours (credits are automatically calculated). Participants should only claim credit for the actual number of hours attended.

The University of Manitoba CPD Medicine Program is fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME).

This program meets the accreditation criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada for Cert+ (60 credits), CPoCUS Diagnostic IP Certification, CERT+

Documentation

Scans are verified and signed off by IP Instructors during the course and the completed documentation stored with the DEM for auditing purposes. A signed certificate of completion for the CPoCUS IP- Diagnostic Course will be provided to the participants after completion of the course and after a course evaluation has been completed.