The University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol has secured funding from NHS England for a new project to develop sonographer skills and 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 to acquire new skills and knowledge. Clinical sonographers are well placed to extend their practice, and establish new and innovative approaches to imaging and reporting.
Potential areas of practice include biopsies (prostate, breast, liver, renal, thyroid), cyst drainage, paracentesis, amniocentesis, MSK steroid injection and hysterosalpingo contrast sonography (HyCoSy).
Hands-on training
Acquiring these new skills will require a very hands-on method of training. UWE will be organising a number of themed workshops facilitated by advanced practitioners, using ultrasound equipment, phantoms and anatomical models. Each student will then be paired with a clinical expert mentor, and will spend time working together with their mentor in clinical practice.
Students will also have the opportunity to obtain academic credits for their learning, by completing an assessed academic module at UWE. All training is fully funded and no academic costs will be incurred by students. The funding is intended for sonographers based in the South West region of England, and is also available for sonographers working in the private sector in the region where NHS contracts are in place.
If you as a department or a sonographer are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity, please contact [email protected] for further information. Also, if you are a sonographer with advanced practice skills who would be prepared to participate by sharing your skills as a mentor, please email Vivien.