Welcome to the NICU Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Program at Women & Infants Hospital/ALPERT MEDICAL SCHOOL AT BROWN UNIVERSITY
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is rapidly transforming neonatal care, offering clinicians a powerful, real-time diagnostic and procedural tool. While interest in neonatal POCUS has grown exponentially in recent years, formalized training opportunities remain limited across fellowship programs nationwide. At our Level IV NICU, we are proud to offer a cutting-edge POCUS program co-led by nationally recognized leaders in the field—Dr. Juan Sanchez-Esteban and Dr. Sfurti Nath. Both directors bring a wealth of experience in POCUS education and have trained healthcare professionals nationwide through hands-on workshops and structured curricula.
Program Overview
Our program is designed to enhance neonatal care through timely, individualized, and safe ultrasound-guided evaluation and interventions. We offer structured, formal training for fellows and NICU staff, supporting a clear pathway to competency and credentialing in both diagnostic and procedural applications of POCUS.
Educational Framework
Our comprehensive curriculum includes:
- Weekly Didactics: Scheduled every second, third and fourth Thursday for all trainees and NICU staff.
- Hands-on Training: Includes simulation-based learning and real-time bedside scanning opportunities.
- NICU POCUS Rounds: Supervised bedside scanning with direct, case-based feedback.
- Digital Learning Hub: Online access to a curated repository of educational resources and all didactic lectures.
Program Components
Our POCUS program integrates four key pillars: Clinical care, Education, Research and Quality assurance.
Program Highlights
- State-of-the-Art Equipment: Equipped with the latest ultrasound technology to support the expanding role of POCUS in neonatal care.
- Individualized care: Offers a safer, faster, and more accurate alternative to traditional imaging, tailored to the needs of critically ill neonates.
- Expert-led training: Our co-directors combine extensive clinical expertise with years of experience training health care professionals in this essential skill of the future.
- Radiation conscious care: Committed to minimizing radiation exposure by integrating POCUS into routine clinical workflows.
- Diagnostic applications: To help in the diagnosis of several lung diseases, need for surfactant administration, global assessment of cardiac function, tamponade, etc.
- Procedural guidance: Enhances procedural safety and success for interventions such as umbilical line placement, bladder tap, lumbar punctures, central and peripheral vascular access etc.
- Quality Assurance: All scans are reviewed by NICU POCUS directors to provide feedback and ensure consistency, safety, and educational value.
- Research and Innovation: Actively engaged in quality improvement and research projects with presentations at regional, national, and international conferences including ESPR, PAS, AAP NCE etc. as well as at regional and institutional meetings.
- Collaborative Leadership: Our unit partners with regional and national organizations- including the New England BICU POCUS Collaborative and the AAP’s POCUS in Pediatrics SIG- to advance the field through interdisciplinary collaboration, education, research, and training workshops.
