AN OUTSTANDING LEARNING OPPORTUNITY FOR VETERINARIANS
ECHOCARDIO
ACADEMY PORTUGAL
Develop your confidence and competence levels in echocardiography with this practical tutored course.
5 days of 100% practice with live patients.
Fully supported with the presence of a dedicated cardiologist tutor on site throughout the entire course.
Access to different ultrasound machines so you can obtain diagnostic images with different equipment.
Online theoretical content so you are prepared for the practical days and can make the most time of scanning.
IMPROVING COMPETENCE WITH ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY
A full cardiological assessment requires a competent echocardiography, but consistency in your skills can be hard to achieve.
Why We Struggle
Lack of Exposure Time using the Ultrasound
To become good at abdominal ultrasound, you need to practise how to obtain the right images and then interpret them, which involves you actually performing ultrasounds instead of just learning from books.
Lack of Support and Feedback
Even if you do get cases, you may not have anyone more experienced to confirm with you that you are on the right track for the correct interpretation and diagnosis. This makes you feel like you’ve done the ultrasound but you can’t trust your findings, so you are in the same place where you were before you did the ultrasound.
Not Enough Opportunities
When you are working, full abdominal ultrasounds are not that common and the learning opportunities in clinical practice are not many, since your most experienced colleagues will usually perform the ultrasound and you don’t get a chance to get your hands on as you’ll be busy doing something else.
No cases, no echo
In a busy practice, there is usually someone more familiar and comfortable with ultrasound, or even someone specifically dedicated to it. This means you are usually busy doing something else and you may not even have the cases or opportunity to be present during ultrasounds. This perpetuates the cycle where the less experienced vets don't have the chance of practising ultrasound and improve their skills.
Lack of practice leads to
lack of confidence in you and your diagnosis.
Learning echocardiography can be very frustrating as the cases are not extremely common, but combining this with the lack of ongoing practice and feedback means that you are unsure about your professional skills and may miss diagnoses or provide wrong diagnoses. Having the possibility of developing your skills and becoming systematic with your echos means you are able to complete this exam consistently feeling confident with your conclusions.
A TRAINING COURSE FOR PROFICIENCY
The Echocardio Academy is built with five stepping stones in mind that sediment your learning to become proficient with echocardiography:
FOCUS
5-day Academy
We provide an intense focus on developing your skills for 5 days. Our Academy runs from Monday to Friday, morning and evening.
PRACTICE
It's all hands-on
You are the one performing ultrasound. You will also be able to watch how to perform it and interpret images obtained by others.
SUPPORT
An experienced tutor for you
You will be followed by an experienced tutor that will provide you with feedback on your technique, images and help you improve during the entire course.
ENVIRONMENT
Dedicated to learning and teaching
Our dedicated learning environment allows you to move away from the expectations of clients and also use your time to visit Portugal.
ALL-IN-ONE
Hassle-free stay
Accommodation and meals are all sorted by us and we help you plan your journey to Portugal.
FOCUS
5-day Academy
We provide an intense focus on developing your skills for 5 days. Our Academy runs from Monday to Friday, morning and evening.
SUPPORT
An experienced tutor for you
You will be followed by an experienced tutor that will provide you with feedback on your technique, images and help you improve during the entire course.
ALL-IN-ONE
Hassle-free stay
Accommodation and meals are all sorted by us and we help you plan your journey to Portugal.
PRACTICE
It's all hands-on
You are the one performing ultrasound. You will also be able to watch how to perform it and interpret images obtained by others.
ENVIRONMENT
Dedicated to learning and teaching
Our dedicated learning environment allows you to move away from the expectations of clients and also use your time to visit Portugal.
YOUR EXPERIENCE
Preparation
Before the practical course, you will have access to our Member Area of the website where you will be able to review all the principles of echocardiography, so you waste no time when you visit the training centre Portugal.
Equipment
We will be using different types of ultrasound machines so you can practice obtaining the images with different equipment. We will also strive to have healthy dogs and cats, as well as patients that require proper investigations.
Learn and Pause
Your arms get tired when doing many ultrasounds, so we want you to be able to take breaks. You will be grouped with one or two other vets and swap between performing echocardio and assisting with image interpretation and measurement recording.
The Result
By the end of the Academy, we expect you to be able to perform a complete echocardiography and obtain the minimum images and measurements for diagnosis of the most common cardiac diseases, as well as elaborate a report for other colleagues.
We will also strive to help you actually identify cardiac disease in real patients and propose treatment options.
Two levels for different experiences
The Echocardio Academy comes in two levels so everyone can make the best out of the opportunity.
Level 1
This Academy is best for vets who are starting their journey with echos and are at the beginning of their cardiology theory and echocardiographic practice, such as vets working in ECC or GP vets branching into cardiology.
Level 2
Already doing echo but wanting to elevate your skills further? Level 2 is for you, so you can look at finer measurements, Doppler work and specific guidance on more advanced imaging techniques. This level is suitable for vets already performing echos on a regular basis.
LIMITED VACANCIES
Dates for the next Courses
For this Academy we accept only veterinary professionals.
16th to 20th September 2024 (level 1 and 2)
Suggested arrival on the 15th and departure on the 21st.
FULL
21st to 25th October 2024 (level 1)
Suggested arrival on the 20th and departure on the 26th.
FULL
25th to 29th November 2024 (level 1)
Suggested arrival on the 24th and departure on the 30th.
NEW DATE AVAILABLE
TRAVEL, STAY AND MEALS
The Echocardio Academy takes place at our training centre in Vila Franca de Xira. This is a small city that is located 20 minutes away from Lisbon airport and has a well-connected train station.
We arrange for your accommodation in Vila Franca de Xira. We will book you a single room with bathroom at the guesthouse O Maioral, which is located in the heart of the city. The guesthouse is a 5-minute walk from the train station and 5-minute walk from the training centre.
All your meals are included. Breakfast is provided at the training centre. Lunch and dinner take place in varied restaurants in the area, so you can have a taste for the local gastronomy.
We will finish each day in time for you to have a stroll around the city and enjoy the river views, or relax at the guesthouse.
Join Us
How to Book a Course
Each Echocardio Academy edition has a limit of 6 vacancies. This Academy has TWO levels and we run it 4 to 6 times a year.
Pre-Registration
Fill out the pre-registration form to let us know what Academy you’d like to join.
Q&A Session
Once we know when you’d like to join, we’ll get in touch with you by email or phone to explain to you how the course works and look at suitable dates, making sure you have no questions.
Booking confirmation
After speaking to you we can confirm if there is a vacancy for the date that suits you and will start your registration if you want to join in by sending you an invitation letter with our full terms and conditions.
Deposit and reservation
We will raise the invoice for your deposit. Once your deposit is paid, your reservation is complete and we’ll start enrolling you on the online course, process your accommodation and help you plan your travel.
JOIN US
Three Good Reasons to Join
The Echocardio Academy offers you a unique and unforgettable experience that goes beyond learning skills.
40h of CPD
40 hours of certified CPD with a proficiency diploma at the end.
Practise, practise, practise
Our Academy is the most practical Academy you will find.
The mentor and the mentee
We pride ourselves in bringing you tutors that are passionate about teaching, but we also love to see our delegates move from student to teacher!
Frequently asked question
Here are a few answers to our most common questions
When we speak with you during the Q&A session, we will make an assessment and help you decide the best level for you. In general, if you have limited theoretical and practical experience with echo, we will suggest you start with level 1. If you already do echos, we generally recommend level 2.
The Echocardio Academy is available only for veterinary professionals who have already graduated and not students. This is because we feel that the theoretical and practical skills are advanced and vet students may struggle to find them relevant or immediately applicable.
Yes you can! Although you will benefit more from the course if you understand the basics of ultrasound and echocardiography, we will provide you with study materials for you to prepare before the in-person Academy. In this case, we recommend you start with level 1.
The course takes place in a partner training centre in Portugal, in a city called Vila Franca de Xira. This city is located 20 minutes away from Lisbon airport and can also be reached in 30-40 minutes by public transport.
More than the number, we care about your confidence with the procedure. You'll have other colleagues with you and we want you to do at least one full echocardiography in the morning and one in the afternoon, but want you to assist with at least two more for each period.
There will be one tutor with dedicated experience in Cardiology and cardiac imaging available all the time to help you with image interpretation, little tricks and tips, repositioning the probe and obtaining the right images for the measurements.
During this course, you will be grouped with one or two more vets and assigned an ultrasound machine for the day. You will then swap between assisting with image interpretation while restraining the patients (they are not sedated, unless really necessary) and performing the echocardio yourself.
The fee for the 5-day course with accommodation and meals included is £2500+VAT (£3000 with VAT). This value can be paid in two installments and converted into other currencies.
The price is the same, whether you are taking the level 1 or level 2 course.
The fee for the 5-day course with accommodation and meals included is £2500 + VAT (£3000 VAT-inclusive). This value can be paid in two installments and converted into other currencies, such as USD.
We will organise accommodation for you at a local guesthouse called O Maioral, which will provide you with your own bedroom and bathroom. The cost of the accommodation is already included in the course fees.
Yes, we will offer you breakfast, lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday. We will also accommodate your preferences and limitations.
We will help you organise your travel and provide you with information to comply with COVID-19 travel restrictions. However, you will have to make travel arrangements to travel to Vila Franca de Xira from the airport, which we'll help you with. The training centre is walking distance from your accommodation.
We only ask that you bring scrubs to wear during the course, you can also bring your own stethoscope if you want. And we advise you bring comfy shoes! ;)
At the training center we have a dedicated space for the dogs to rest while we're doing scans and a separate area for us to perform the ultrasound. Of course, you will also have a bathroom available, and a small rest area where you can have snacks (and coffee!). We will be going out for meals :)
Still have questions or want to book a date?
Speak with us in a Q&A session.
Learn to perform echocardiography in Portugal
A unique and supported experience to develop your imaging skills and diagnostic confidence, offering you a remarkable learning environment.
Book a Q&A Session
Book a Q&A session if you have doubts about the Academy and want to know if it's right for you.
Book a Q&A Session
Book a Q&A session if you have doubts about the Academy and want to know if it's right for you.
Contact Us
Office HQ
Technology House,
9 Newton Place
Glasgow
G3 7PR
Scotland
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