Emergency Ultrasound

Welcome .

Welcome to the MedStar Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship! Our mission is to train physicians to be experts in the area of point of care ultrasound with a focus on medical education, hospital-wide leadership, and patient safety. We offer a one year fellowship to graduates of ACGME approved Emergency Medicine residencies. Our fellows work closely with our residents and residency leadership and serve as an integral part of our education team. Fortunately we have the ability to collaborate with other leaders in their fields, including: critical care, cardiology, anesthesia, sports medicine, and simulation and safety. Educational opportunities abound with opportunities to teach medical students, emergency medicine residents, off service residents, physician assistants, and nurses. Our fellows are exposed and work in both academic and community emergency medicine departments, enabling them to explore how ultrasound can best be used in differing clinical environments.

Program Background .

The Medstar Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship was established in 2009. Over the years we have grown and the ultrasound program is now an integral part of point-of-care-ultrasound services provided to our patients across all nine Medstar Emergency Departments in Maryland and the District of Columbia. As a program, we provide quality improvement and quality assurance for practicing physicians at all nine emergency departments.

Equipment

SonoSite Exporte machines are used at all of the clinical sites where our fellows work and scan. At our main sites, we also have SonoSite SII for our peripheral IVs and other procedures. Our images and clips are uploaded to the patient’s electronic medical records and are available for real time review by our ultrasound team as well as the remainder of the patient’s care team.

Locations .

Our emergency ultrasound fellows spend time primarily working in four emergency departments throughout their time in training. They will spend time on scanning shifts at both Washington Hospital Center and Georgetown University’s emergency departments in Washington DC. They will also work clinically as attendings at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital in Clinton, Maryland. Through their work in these different sites, they are exposed to a wide breadth of practice environments from urban academic departments to more suburban community departments.

Fellowship Overview .

Emergency Ultrasound is well embedded into the emergency medicine residency. Each resident begins their training with a two day ultrasound boot camp followed by a dedicated ultrasound immersion week where they scan in the emergency department with fellows and ultrasound faculty members. Our residents then complete a total of 8 additional ultrasound scanning days throughout the remaining time in residency. The majority of attending physicians working in the academic centers are credentialed to perform and interpret their own bedside ultrasounds, supervising the resident scans during their clinical shifts. All of the bedside ultrasounds performed in the departments are reviewed by the ultrasound team members. Once reviewed, both faculty and residents receive email feedback on the technique and interpretation of their scans.. Many residents also choose to spend time with our department during elective rotations.

Fellowship Goals

  • Enhance ultrasound skills in both basic and advanced ultrasonography
  • Grow and expand educational skills with focus on point-of-care ultrasonography
  • Learn skills needed for leading a point of care ultrasound division
  • Formulate and start research project while continuing existing project

Fellow Responsibilities

  • Bedside teaching on clinical scanning shifts,  6 shifts/month
  • Attending clinical shifts at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital and MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital, 72 hrs/month
  • Weekly QI/QA review session 
  • Didactic presentation given during emergency medicine residency didactics
  • Teaching opportunities for nursing staff, physician assistants, medical students

Fellow Responsibilities

  • Competitive salary
  • 4 weeks vacation
  • Attend the ACEP Emergency Ultrasound Management Course
  • Paid attendance to SCUF conference
  • Paid attendance to AIUM or alternative course
  • MedStar Fellows’ Essential Curriculum course
  • Generous CME/GME 
  • Paid memberships to: AIUM, ACEP US section, SAEM, AEUS, SCUF

Fellowship Alumni .

Nicole Williams DO, Sports Medicine Fellow, George Washington University

Lindsea Abbott MD, MedStar Washington Hospital Center

Jonathan Watson MD, Core Ultrasound Faculty, Medstar Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center 

Erika Page MD, Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, Arizona

Maria Dynin MD, Inova Fairfax Hospital Emergency Ultrasound Faculty

Kayla Dewey MD, Emergency Ultrasound Elective Director, University of Rochester Medical Center 

Sakib Motalib MD, Inova Fairfax Hospital Emergency Ultrasound Faculty

Kathryn Voss MD, Program Director, Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship MedStar Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center 

Erica Peethumnogsin MD, Director of Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship, Duke University

Joseph Pate MD, MedStar Emergency Physicians, Former Emergency Department Ultrasound Coordinator for Washington Adventist Healthcare. 

Elizabeth Kenez MD, Anne Arundel Medical Center, Maryland 

Judy Lin MD, Director of Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at UCF/Osceola Regional Medical Center, Former Program Director Emergency Ultrasound at Maimonides Medical Center 

Brianne Steele MD, Director of Emergency Ultrasound, Central Maine Medical Center

Melissa Thomas MD, Vice Chair, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Emergency Medicine, The University of Kansas, Assistant Residency Director, Former Assistant Ultrasound Director

Abbi Reddy MD, MedStar Emergency Physicians, Former Director of Student Education Emergency Ultrasound

Cory Wittrock MD, Emergency Ultrasound Director, University of Iowa HealthCare, Former Program Director Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship MedStar Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center

Danielle Silverman MD

Elizabeth Pontius MD, Associate Program Director Medstar Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center Emergency Medicine Residency, Former Director of Resident Education, Emergency Ultrasound 

Jamie Jenkins, MD, Emergency Department Medical Director, former Regional Ultrasound Director, Team Health, CHI Franciscan St Clare

Kristen Bendick, MD, Ultrasound Site Director, Northside Hospital/NEA

Kerri Layman MD, Chief of Service Georgetown University Emergency Medicine, Former Program Director Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship

Meet the Faculty .

Want to learn more about emergency ultrasound? Contact the team!

Carolyn Phillips, MD, RDMS

Vice Chair, MedStar Washington Hospital Center Emergency Department

Kathryn Voss, MD

Program Director, Ultrasound Fellowship

Jon Watson, MD

Emergency Medicine Attending Physician

Kerri Layman, MD, RDMS

Chief, Emergency Medicine, MedStar Georgetown

Contact Information .

For more information, please contact us at us_team@medstar.net or kathryn.voss@medstar.net

EUFAC Accreditation .

Our Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship received a 3 year full accreditation by the Emergency Ultrasound Accreditation Council (EUFAC) in May 2022.