Total Veterinary Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS)

With this course, you will learn both theoretical and practical skills to perform POCUS on the abdomen, pleural space, lung, heart, volume status, and be able to use ultrasound in procedures. The course is updated with the latest POCUS advancements, allowing you to implement POCUS in your clinical practice immediately after completing the course.

Course Content
and Key Focus Areas

In the early 2000s, POCUS was first studied in animals extrapolated from human medicine. The first study examined free fluid in the abdominal cavity after blunt trauma, demonstrating that POCUS was both sensitive and specific for this type of examination. Since then, an array of studies on dogs, cats, and other species have been conducted, continually expanding the realm of POCUS. Originally intended for critically ill patients, POCUS has become a diagnostic method used for both critically ill patients, daily assessments but also chronic diseases. Advantages: Increase Diagnostic Accuracy: Learn to use your ultrasound in a new way, next to your patient. To quickly and accurately diagnose a wide range of conditions, such as pneumothorax, pleural effusion, abdominal effusion, heart failure, gallbladder edema, volume status and more.

Enhance Patient Safety: Using a point-of-care diagnostic method, you can examine the animal in a safe, non-invasive manner in a calm environment, saving time and reducing patient stress.

Increase Clinic Efficiency: The examination is based on simple yes/no questions (binary questions), making it fast, safe, and efficient. This allows for quicker diagnoses, reduced treatment times, and lower costs for the owner, resulting in better patient care and increased client satisfaction.
Course Content:

Theoretical overview of abdominal POCUS:

► Learn evidence-based protocols for POCUS examination of free fluid in the abdomen.

► Learn to diagnose conditions such as free fluid in the abdomen, pneumoperitoneum, gallbladder edema, volume estimation of the bladder, and more.

Theoretical overview of pleural space and lung POCUS:

► Learn evidence-based protocols for POCUS examination of the pleural and lung space.

► Learn to diagnose conditions such as pleural effusion, aspiration pneumonia, lung contusions, pneumothorax, and more.

Theoretical overview of cardiac POCUS:

► Learn evidence-based protocols for POCUS examination of the heart.

► Learn emergency scans of the heart to more confidently rule in or out cardiac diseases such as pericardial effusion, forward and backward failure, and right or left sided heart failure.

Theoretical overview of volume status and procedural POCUS:

► Get more information about volume status and feel more confident in evaluating your patient’s needs by assessing the caudal vena cava and heart.

► Be ready to obtain vascular access by learning ultrasound-guided aspirations for abdominocentesis, cystocentesis, IV access on difficult vessels, and arterial blood sampling.

Practical Exercises: Each area has a practical session with the combination of live dogs, cadavers or models. The session starts with a demonstration and the participants are divided into smaller groups and is guided by our instructors.

Why: This course will provide you with fundamental tools to implement POCUS as part of your daily clinical practice, a diagnostic method you will soon use every day. It will increase patient safety, client satisfaction, and allow you to provide superior patient care.

Instructor
Hugo Swanstein

Hugo is a veterinarian specialising in emergency and critical care with strong expertise in POCUS. He teaches internationally and combines clinical practice with research and education.

Before Signing Up
What Should You Know

Target Group
This course is ideal for veterinarians with ultrasound experience as well as those who have never used an ultrasound probe before. The course emphasizes the ability to implement the diagnostic method immediately after completion, offering many practical tips and tricks. The course is also suitable for veterinary nurses, especially those focusing on emergency and intensive care patients. If you are unsure whether your experience matches the level of the course, you are very welcome to contact us – we are happy to help you decide if it is the right fit for you.

Catering
Der er fuld forplejning under kurset. Har du særlige kostbehov eller allergier, er du meget velkommen til at give os besked ved tilmelding – så sørger vi for at tage hensyn.

Language
Dansk

Please note: Photos may be taken during the course for use in Eickemeyer marketing. Please inform us if you prefer not to appear in photos.

Ultralyd kursus

Praktisk info

Smådyr

Dato:	24. marts 2026 - 25. marts 2026
Sted:	Solbakken 26, 6500 Vojens Danmark
Pris:	DKK 9,600 excl. accommodation / DKK 10,800 incl. accommodation

Underviser

Hugo Swanstein Dyrlæge, head of communications subcommittee at VECCUS (Veterinary Emergency Critical Care Ultrasound Interest Group, KU Sund og
Katharina Lunde, Dyrlæge, GPCert(SAS)(ORTH)

Se program