Educational Experience

One Year

1 - 2

The majority of fellow education will be provided by the three core faculty members who are fellowship-trained in ultrasound. This education will be achieved through a combination of proctored scanning shifts, classroom didactics, hands-on simulation sessions, weekly image review, required readings, ultrasound board review preparation, monthly journal club sessions, and suggested literature reviews.

Additionally, Dr. Chinnock and Dr. Chooljian, two other ultrasound faculty members with over 45 years of combined experience in point-of-care ultrasound, will also significantly contribute to the fellows' education, bringing a wealth of expertise in ultrasound. Our department's three dual-boarded emergency medicine and critical care faculty are highly skilled in echocardiography and serve as valuable educational resources for fellows.

Furthermore, all fellows will attend the ESP ultrasound physics course at the beginning of the fellowship year and receive departmental funding to attend the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) annual conference. This conference features high-quality ultrasound content delivered by experts from various medical specialties.

• Lead a team of residents, physician assistant residents, and medical students in five scanning shifts each month.
• Oversee educational sessions and case-based quality assurance review for rotating learners during our weekly ultrasound conference. Fellows will also participate in our monthly ultrasound journal club. 
• All fellows are required to perform and interpret at least 1,000 ultrasound exams and to provide quality assurance for at least 750 clinical and educational scans performed in our department.
• Provide hands-on education to faculty members and residents at quarterly ultrasound continuing medical education sessions. Fellows will also participate in credentialing and privileging faculty members in core ultrasound applications. 
• Fellows will participate in ultrasound related research projects; publication or presentation of at least one project is expected.

Ultrasound fellows are encouraged to participate in educating other learners throughout UCSF Fresno and Community Regional Medical Center. Additional opportunities include.

• Lecturing on critical care ultrasound topics to pulmonary/critical care fellows and internal medicine residents.
• Assisting with the annual UCSF Fresno intern boot camp in June, which covers ultrasound-guided vascular access.
• Facilitating training sessions on ultrasound-guided IV access for ED and observation unit nurses.

Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) is the only site. It is a high volume, high acuity level 1 trauma center in central Fresno. CRMC is a tertiary care center and receiving hospital for much of California’s San Joaquin valley. Our emergency medicine residency program was founded in 1974 and is one of the oldest and most well respected in the country. We are a four-year program training 10-12 emergency medicine residents each year. We are also home to a robust emergency medicine physician assistant residency and are the primary clinical rotation site for UCSF medical students training through the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) Prime training pathway.

• The fellow will work clinically as a junior faculty member at CRMC. Fellows work eight shifts per month (64 hours / month).
• All assigned shifts will be in the emergency department at CRMC. Clinical work will be split equally between teaching shifts where the fellow will supervise residents and advanced practice practitioners, and clinical shifts where the fellow will provide care directly to emergency department patients or to patients in the ED observation unit. 
• Fellows are given the academic title of Clinical Instructors of Emergency Medicine at UCSF-Fresno.
• Internal moonlighting in the CRMC ED for additional income is allowed as long as fellows are able to maintain their fellowship duties and educational expectations. 

Fresno is the largest city in California's Central Valley. It is a vibrant city that offers both walkability and entertainment in its more urban downtown neighborhoods, as well as multiple options for dining, shopping, and residential living in its surrounding suburbs and nearby sister city, Clovis. With 290 days of sunshine a year, we have one of the most pleasant climates in all of California. Fresno and Clovis are both ranked among the top 5 most affordable cities in California. Owing to its central location in California, Fresno is the closest major city to Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks and is a short drive away from major destinations such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.