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What is POCUS?
Veterinary point of care ultrasound (POCUS) techniques are rapid, easy-to-learn and practical ultrasound skills that ANY practitioner can apply in everyday practice.
POCUS is commonly used as a patient-side diagnostic tool to rapidly identify underlying conditions and help direct further diagnostics and therapy by asking a focused set of binary questions rather than assessing all structures by a specialists with an open ended list of differentials.
About the technique
POCUS has a high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of abdominal effusion, other abdominal applications, pleural, pulmonary, vascular and cardiac pathologies including:
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GI motility
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Bladder volume estimation
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pneumoperitoneum
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Gallbladder wall oedema or halo
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Pneumothorax
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Pleural effusion
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Alveolar interstitial disease
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Left and right-sided heart failure
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Pericardial effusion
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Intravascular volume estimation and response to fluid therapy
Your learning experience
Do you ever wonder why a cat is dyspneic (asthma vs. pleural effusion vs. heart disease) and cannot safely take thoracic radiographs?
Ever debate if you can safely give a patient IV fluids or when you should stop giving IV fluid boluses? Ever wonder if you are missing something in the abdomen of a collapsed patient that presents in shock?
POCUS can help you manage these patients!
Through a comprehensive pre-recorded online lecture series meticulously developed and delivered by the legendary Dr's Soren Boysen and Serge Chalhoub and an in person hands-on workshop delivered by Australian trainers participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice the skills of POCUS.
In addition, vascular access techniques using ultrasound will be discussed and practiced on a phantom chicken breast model. Ever struggle to place an IV catheter in a patient with haematomas, thick skin or oedema? Ultrasound can help!
About Your Lecturers
Prof Søren Boysen, DVM, DACVECC
Considered the godfather of Veterinary POCUS by many, Søren with the help of like minded people around the globe has changed the practice of veterinary medicine by introducing FAST exams to vets and adapted POCUS for non trauma patients.
He continues to develop ultrasound training techniques for non-specialist practitioners and conduct POCUS related research. He is the recipient of multiple awards and an internationally recognised speaker and incredible teacher.
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Dr Serge Chalhoub DVM, DACVIM
Serge is a strong advocate of veterinary POCUS, having been converted from the "dark side"
of only scanning the abdomens of internal medicine cases. Serge has collaborated on
several clinical research projects and co-authored numerous scientific articles, book
chapters and most recently text books on point-of-care ultrasound. He continues to
actively deliver POCUS training workshops across the globe and is an award-winning
teacher.
During POCUS training you’ll learn to:
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perform a basic abdominal, thoracic and cardiac ultrasound.
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recognize various abdominal, thoracic and cardiovascular pathologies.
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improve diagnostic skills and clinical decision making
Register for 2025
Interested in a POCUS workshop? Get in touch today
May 2025- ACT and South Coast NSW. In house workshop at your practice with your team
June 2025 - Northern Territory - In house workshop at your practice with your team
25-27 July 2025 - Science Week, Gold Coast Queensland - TBC
August 2025 - Dr Soren Boysen and Dr Serge Chalhoub in Australia in person.
"Point-of-care ultrasound has become an essential piece of the puzzle when it comes to managing veterinary patients. We can actually, right there at the cage side, gain a very rapid evaluation of what's causing that patient to have respiratory difficulty or a cough within 30 to 60 seconds.
That first-line evaluation with the point- of-care ultrasound, right there when the patient comes in, is hugely impactful when it comes to comforting the owners, figuring out where we're going to go, and discussing prognosis, costs, etc. It makes a huge difference on how we manage those patients."
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- Dr. Soren Bøysen, Professor of Veterinary Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, Department of Small Animal Emergency and Critical care, University of Calgary
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