What is the purpose of the Education
Committee?
To impart knowledge and skills to members and to promote the
delivery and advancement of ultrasound in cardiology.
How does the Education Committee help
to provide educational opportunities for members of the
BSE?
The Committee seeks to achieve its' aim in a number of ways.
Educational meetings
A programme of meetings is held for members, during which
information is given regarding best practice and recent
developments to assist members in life-long learning in
echocardiography.
Core Training takes place over one day in October on an annual
basis. The aim of this lecture-based course is to cover the
syllabus for Proficiency Accreditation in adult transthoracic
echocardiography. The target audience is therefore those who are
entering the field of adult echocardiography and are considering
accreditation, as well as those who may wish to refresh their
knowledge of core competencies.
The Annual General meeting is held over two days in October on
an annual basis. This has two educational tracks, one to support
education around core competencies in adult echocardiography, and
one to support practice in more complicated aspects of
echocardiography. The meeting also has a practical component which
is run in conjunction with the major manufacturers of
echocardiography equipment in the United Kingdom. This practical
training seeks to deliver an intermediate step between the theory
delivered in lectures and the application of new practices on
return to work.
The Advanced Meeting is a forum to bring specialists from other
fields into contact with echocardiographers, run once a year in
March at the Royal Society of Medicine, engendering debate and
discussion with a view to delivering best practice in imaging. This
meeting is aimed at those who hold accreditation and are developing
sub-specialist interest within echocardiography.
Guidelines and Protocols
The Committee has a programme of publication of guidelines and
protocols. These are to promote common, systematic and valid
evidence-based frameworks for best practice in echocardiography,
covering minimum required datasets in transthoracic and
transoesophageal echocardiography, with supplementary protocols for
pathology. This programme of information publication is subject to
regular review and up-dating. Guidelines and protocols are
published in Echo and are released on the web-site. There is a
proposal to bind these protocols into a practical handbook for best
practice in the near future.
In addition, the Education Committee currently produce a
supplement within the European Journal of Echocardiography, with
the aim of practically-orientated articles as a source of reference
for members.
Distance
Learning
The Education Committee is responsible for the delivery of
distance-learning modules, which are self-directed learning tools
that can be used for accreditation and revalidation. These are
available through the website for members.
Fourthly, the Education Committee is developing an Image
Library, which can be used for on-going learning by those seeking
accreditation and for reference for more experienced members. The
aim is to build an image library that can support protocols,
distance-learning modules and as an information tool to provide
multiple examples of diverse cardiovascular pathologies on
echocardiography. This Image Library is in development.