UWE offers workshops to boost sonographer skills

The University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol has secured funding from NHS England for a project to develop sonographer skills to enable them to expand and advance their field of practice. Sonographers in the UK are developing their clinical skills in interventional procedures in order to alleviate long patient waiting lists. To facilitate this, many sonographers will require additional training. Clinical sonographers are well placed to extend their practice and establish new and innovative approaches to imaging and reporting.

UWE has organised two workshops that will be led by specialist practitioners, using ultrasound equipment, phantoms and anatomical models. Students will be paired with a clinical expert mentor and spend time working in clinical practice.

A general biopsy and drainage workshop will be held on February 1, 2024. This will include biopsy, FNA (head and neck), cyst drainage and paracentesis and will consist of lectures and opportunities to practice techniques on phantoms. On February 2, an MSK joint injection workshop will include shoulder, elbow, hand, knee and foot and will consist of lectures and opportunities to practice techniques on phantoms.

Students will have the opportunity to obtain academic credits by completing an assessed academic module at UWE. All training is fully funded, with funding intended for sonographers based in the south-west of England and also available for sonographers working in the private sector in the region where NHS contracts are in place.

The project will be monitored to establish any challenges encountered, identify opportunities for further development and to quantify the impact on clinical practice in the region.

Picture: UWE College for Health, Science and Society visiting professor Dr Viv Gibbs and pro-vice chancellor and head Professor Marc Griffiths are the project leads.

Published on page 36 of the December 2023 issue of RAD Magazine.