Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship is a one-year post-graduate program integrating didactic education, quality assurance training, clinical research, and robust hands-on experience.
Fellowship Mission and Philosophy Heading link
Fellowship Mission
Develop leaders in ultrasound education for both the academic and emergency department settings.
Educational Philosophy
The Ultrasound Fellowship incorporates didactics, quality assurance training, academic mentoring, clinical research, and robust hands-on experience. We adapt each fellowship instruction toward the distinctive goals of each fellow, whether they intend to pursue a position in an academic center or in a community institution as an ultrasound director or educator, or a combination of both. We ensure that each fellow is highly competent when they apply and interview for a position.
Educational Objectives
- Identify and develop every Emergency Ultrasound (EUS) fellow’s specific ultrasound interests and career goals.
- Establish ongoing mentorship relationships with the fellowship director and ultrasound faculty.
- Obtain competency in all eleven core point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) applications outlined in the ACEP 2008 guidelines.
- Describe how to create and participate in a hospital credentialing program for POCUS in the emergency department.
- Describe how to create and participate in the billing program for POCUS performed in the ED.
- Describe how to create effective curricula for students, residents, and attending physicians in POCUS in the ED and hospital.
- Be able to plan and execute a successful POCUS training course or workshop for novices in POCUS.
- Actively participate in new and ongoing emergency ultrasound research.
Fellowship Core Components Heading link
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Weekly Quality Assurance (QA) Sessions
The fellows must attend weekly QA meetings, during which all POCUS performed in the department the prior week will be reviewed with the fellowship director or other designated faculty member. Fellows will receive direct feedback on their scans and teaching on ultrasounds performed by others during these QA sessions.
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Didactic Education
Podcasts and webinars on EM POCUS will be assigned throughout the academic year, combined with several lectures by the fellowship director or one of the core EM ultrasound faculty.
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Pelvic Ultrasound Training
Fellows have an opportunity to enhance their endovaginal pelvic ultrasound skills through an annual course hosted by the UIC Family Medicine department. Additional hands-on training on endovaginal pelvic ultrasound is available through various workshops and through the simulation lab at UIC College of Medicine.
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EM Ultrasound Journal Club
A student, resident, or fellow presents journal articles weekly after ultrasound QA. The fellowship director or the assistant fellowship director moderates each journal club.
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Ultrasound Scanning Shifts
The fellows will scan with the fellowship director or one of the core EM ultrasound faculty an average of 3-4 times per month, during this time, they will receive bedside teaching and real-time feedback on their scans.
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Academic/Research Mentoring
The fellow will participate in research projects in the department and develop their research project. The fellowship director will mentor the fellow while they develop the clinical question and study design, and then the fellow will write and submit the IRB application.
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Abstract & Academic Article Submission
The fellow will have the chance to submit a minimum of at least one abstract to a national or international emergency medicine meeting and at least one manuscript to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, magazine, or newsletter. The fellowship director or one of the core EM ultrasound faculty will help the fellow organize the abstract (or manuscript) and prepare it for submission.
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Additional Opportunities
Two-year fellowship opportunities are available for candidates interested in pursuing advanced degrees. Candidates interested in this option must submit a separate application and be accepted in one of the following master’s programs offered at the University of Illinois Chicago: Master of Health Professional Education (MHPE), Master of Public Health (MPH), or Master of Clinical and Translational Sciences (MSCTS). Upon acceptance into a Master’s Program, a tuition waiver will be available.
We also offer opportunities for combined ultrasound fellowships with one of two other fellowships: Dr. Kotini-Shah, one of our fellowship graduates and current core faculty, completed a combined EM ultrasound and Resuscitation fellowship.
The Department of Medical Education also offers a longitudinal Teaching Scholars fellowship program that lasts one to two years.
How to Apply EUS Fellowships
Fellows Heading link
24/25 Ultrasound/Resuscitation Fellow
Dr. Jasmine Thompson earned her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 2020. She previously completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Duke University, where she was recognized on the Dean’s List with Distinction in the Spring of 2012.
Dr. Thompson is completing her Emergency Medicine Residency at Louisiana State University New Orleans, where she has trained since 2020. During her residency, she received the Clerkship Resident of the Year Award in 2023, reflecting her dedication and clinical skills.
Her leadership experience extends beyond clinical practice. Dr. Thompson has actively contributed to academic emergency medicine through her involvement with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), serving as a member and resident reviewer on the SAEM Grants Committee. She has also held the role of Resident Editor for the Journal of Academic Emergency Medicine and participated in the EMRA/ACEP Leadership Academy.
Dr. Thompson has contributed to a variety of research projects, including studies on clinical outcomes of lumbar spinal fusion and the relationship between prostate cancer treatments and lifestyle factors. Among her publications is “Later life swimming performance and persistent heart damage following subteratogenic PAH mixture exposure in the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus),” co-authored with D.R. Brown et al., and published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in 2017.
Her achievements have been recognized through several awards, including the SNMA Excellence in Community Service Award in 2020, and she has demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion in medicine. Dr. Thompson helped develop educational programs for those underrepresented in medicine. She presented her work, “Discover Medicine: A Formal Curriculum to Stimulate Interest of High School Under-Represented Minorities in Medicine,” at the National Association of Medical Minority Educators Southern and Central Regional Conference in 2019.
23/24 Ultrasound Fellow
Dr. Sahrish Ekram earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington Seattle, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Medical Anthropology. She went on to complete her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and Master of Arts (M.A.) in Medical Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Ekram later completed her residency at New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
Her clinical interests include point-of-care ultrasound in the emergency department, women’s health, health disparities, and the social determinants of health.
Fellowship Director Heading link
Joseph Colla, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine
Publications Heading link
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Peer-Reviewed Journals
- Colla JS, Kotini-Shah P, Soppet S, Chen YF, Molokie R, Prajapati P, Prendergast HM. “Use of bedside ultrasound as a predictive tool for acute chest syndrome in sickle cell patients: A prospective exploratory study.” Am J Emerg Med. 2018 Jul 3. [Epub ahead of print]
- Del Rios M, Colla JS, Kotini-Shah P, Briller J, Gerber B, Prendergast H. “Emergency physician use of tissue Doppler bedside echocardiography in detecting diastolic dysfunction: an exploratory study.” Critical Ultrasound Journal. 2018 Jan 25;10(1):4.
- Prendergast HM, Del Rios M, Petzel-Gimbar R, Garside D, Heinert S, Escobar-Schulz S, Kotini-Shah P, Brown M, Chen J, Colla JS, Fitzgibbon M, Durazo-Arvizu RA, Daviglus M. “A hypertension emergency department intervention aimed at decreasing disparities: Design of a randomized clinical trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2018 January;64:1-7.
- Huang, F, Caton RM, Colla JS. “Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Acute Sialolithiasis with Sialoadenitis.” Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine – Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2017 October 18;1(4):437-8.
- Caton RM, Kotini-Shah P, Ahmed A, Colla JS. “Identifying Pediatric Skull Fracture Using Point-of-Care Ultrasound.” Emergency Medicine. 2017 September;49(9):427-429.
- Colla JS, Kotini-Shah P, Scholz RB, Eilbert W. “Identification of Aortic Dissection Using Limited Bedside Ultrasound.” Emergency Medicine, March 2017;49(3):135-137.
- Naing L, Fredericks P, Colla JS. “Ultrasound-Guided Hip Arthrocentesis.” Emergency Medicine, January 2017;49(1):37-38.
- Prendergast H, Colla JS, Patel N, Del Rios M, Marcucci J, Scholz R, Ngwang P, Cappitelli K, Daviglus M, Dudley S. “Correlation between Subclinical Heart Disease and Cardiovascular Risk Profiles in an Urban Emergency Department Population with Elevated Blood Pressures: A Pilot Study.” Journal of Emergency Medicine, June 2015;48(6):756-61
- Prendergast H, Colla JS, Del Rios M, Marcucci J, Scholz R, O’Neal T. “Playing a Role in Secondary Prevention in the ED: Longitudinal Study of Asymptomatic Hypertension Following A Brief Education Intervention: A Pilot.” Public Health Journal, May 2015;129(5):604-6.
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Newsletters
- Marcucci J, Dukarevich Y, Scholz R, Rodos A, Colla JS. “Undifferentiated Hypotension: How a RUSH Ultrasound Could Save a Life.” Emergency Physicians Monthly, November 2013;21(1):3-4.
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Peer-Reviewed Abstracts
- Caton RM, Colla JS, Kotini-Shah P, Baldes C, Rzeszutko J.
“Interobserver Variability of Global Longitudinal Strain by Emergency Physicians“. Poster presentation, 3A-154, Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Conference, 10 September 2017(Recognized as a top 20 outstanding posters) - Ozga M, Huang F, Colla JS. “TAPSE Predicts LOS in ED Patients with Sickle Cell Crisis.” Abstract Presentation, Mediterranean Emergency Medicine Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, 7 September 2017
- Kotini-Shah P, Colla JS, Ozga M, Zubenko A, Tatz R. “Characterization of Acute Chest Syndrome by Lung Ultrasound.” American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine. E-poster presentation. Lake Buena Vista, Florida, 25-29 March 2017
- Kotini-Shah P, Gustafsson MB, Briller J, Prendergast HM, Del Rios M, Patel N, Colla JS. “A Simplified Approach to Screen for Diastolic Dysfunction Using Limited Bedside Echocardiography by Emergency Physicians.” Academic Emergency Medicine, May 2015; 22:S403–S404.
- Scholz RB, Kotini-Shah P, Eilbert W, Rechenmacher R, Colla JS. “A case of an elderly weight lifter.” Image in Medicine, Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, 12 May 2015.
- Colla JS, Del Rios M, Eren E, Prendergast H. “Identification of Subclinical Cardiac Dysfunction using Bedside Echocardiograms in Emergency Department Patients by Emergency Physicians.” Annals of Emergency Medicine, October 2014; 64(4): S121, Abstract 345.
- Prendergast H, Colla JS, Scholz R, Marcucci J, Del Rios M. “Correlation between Subclinical Heart Disease and Cardiovascular Risk Profiles in an Urban Emergency Department Population with Asymptomatic Hypertension: A Pilot Study.” Academic Emergency Medicine, May 2014; 21 Suppl. 1:S262-S263, Abstract 636.
- Caton RM, Colla JS, Kotini-Shah P, Baldes C, Rzeszutko J.