Welcome to your IMV imaging and VetPartners ultrasound courses!

Introduction to Abdominal Ultrasound

This course aims to give you the confidence to perform an ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity and optimise your images using the equipment you have available in practice. We will cover a logical and methodical approach to ultrasonography which will enable you to identify and fully evaluate all the major abdominal organs. As artefacts are common in ultrasound, we will help you to recognise them and explore the root causes for each. Finally, we will begin to explore the interpretation and reporting of changes seen on ultrasound examination.

Organs covered include:

• Liver and Gall Bladder
• Spleen
• Urinary Tract
• The gastrointestinal tract including stomach, small intestine and colon

Abdominal Ultrasound: Next Steps

The overall aim of the course is to continue to improve your confidence in performing routine abdominal ultrasound examinations. After reviewing some key ultrasound concepts, we will cover a logical and methodical approach to assessing some of the smaller and less distinct areas of the abdomen using reliable anatomic landmarks.

Organs covered include:

• The major abdominal vessels
• The adrenal glands
• The abdominal lymph nodes
• The gastrointestinal tract including the pyloroduodenal junction, duodenum, ileum and ileocaecocolic junction
• The pancreas

The appearance and interpretation of common pathological changes will be discussed along with guides on how to perform routine quantitative measurements. Additionally, the fundamentals of Doppler ultrasound will be described along with its applications in abdominal ultrasound.

How it works:

All our practical ultrasound courses are the equivalent of 8 hours of CPD and have two components: online theory material and a practical training session.

1. The theory material is available online via our IMV and VetPartners Academy. Through a combination of text, videos, animations and interactive content, we will get you ready for the practical training. The theory material takes around 3-5 hours and is available for a 3 month period.
2. The practical training will allow you to put the theory into practice on real dogs. We will review the key concepts before practicing the techniques introduced in the theoretical course. The practical training focusses on giving you hands-on ultrasound practice in a supportive, relaxed environment, guided by the IMV imaging Clinical Team.

Each session lasts approximately 4 hours and places available on each course are strictly limited by the number of dogs available to train.

How do I book IMV imaging and VetPartners ultrasound courses?

You can apply to join any of our course dates by filling out the application form below.

Important! Please read the following:

• Completing the form does not guarantee you a place on the course. The IMV clinical team will be in touch to confirm any course place
• As the course relies on dogs to scan, priority is given to delegates who bring or borrow a dog for the practical session. Other course attendees are given places on a first-come, first-served basis
• We require a minimum of 2 dogs and 6 delegates for a practical training session to run. If we do not meet these requirements, the training session will be cancelled
• The practical training sessions will typically run from 8:30am – 1:15pm on the course day (including lunch). Where there is a high demand for a course date, a second training session will be ran from 12:00pm – 4:45pm (including lunch)
• Confirmation of session times, notification of cancellations and access to the online theory components will be made approximately 1 month before the courses date If you have any questions, contact [email protected]

Available Courses:

• Introduction To Abdominal Ultrasound – East Midlands Airport – 22/2/24
• Introduction To Abdominal Ultrasound – Hilton, Cumbernauld – 13/6/24
• Introduction To Abdominal Ultrasound – Hilton, Bath – 3/10/24
• Next Steps in Abdominal Ultrasound Practical Session – Hilton, Cumbernauld – 16/4/24
• Next Steps in Abdominal Ultrasound Practical Session – East Midlands Airport – 19/6/24
• Next Steps in Abdominal Ultrasound Practical Session – Hilton, Bath – 7/11/24