BodyWorks Eve and HeartWorks: Supporting Emory University at Home and Overseas
The Department of Anesthesiology at Emory University has invested in BodyWorks Eve and HeartWorks. Eve will support the University with residency education at its School of Medicine in Atlanta, and outside the USA via a ‘Global Health portable Point Of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) and Echocardiography Course’ – unlocking ultrasound at home and overseas!
Based in Georgia, USA, Emory University has a clear pursuit – creating learner success via its campus in Atlanta, with a mission to make a difference and change the world.
Dr Ian McCullough is the Director of Point of Care Ultrasound for the Department of Anesthesiology at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is also in charge of a global health course where he and a team of specialists go overseas and teach physicians echocardiography and POCUS.
While simulation is recognized as being an important part of the curriculum at Emory, it’s the latter responsibility which drove the Emory University Department of Anesthesiology to invest in a new high-fidelity simulator – the Global Health POCUS and Echocardiography Course.
Dr McCullough explained “We identified a need for colleagues in medically underserved countries who have limited access to ultrasound and/or ultrasound training. At the direction of our chairman, Dr Andrew Patterson, and with the support of university leadership, we decided to give them both. Through the Global Health POCUS and Echocardiography Course, we’re providing ultrasound machines and delivering ultrasound training to enable our colleagues overseas to improve the care they provide”.
Travelling to countries across the globe, the team needed a high-fidelity POCUS and echocardiography simulator “in a portable package”.
A range of simulators were evaluated, and BodyWorks Eve and HeartWorks were selected as they met the course needs and are highly portable. Dr McCullough expanded: “with a transport case for the manikin itself and two smaller pelican cases, we can move the entire system via commercial air without much difficulty. This removes the need for a large shipping container meeting the team on location”.
Due to the nature of the course and some sensitive locations, Dr McCullough was unable to disclose where Eve and HeartWorks will be used, he did however tell us how the platforms will be used. “Courses are tailored to the audience – where learners are more facile and have more resources, the team can use HeartWorks to deliver in depth echocardiography training as well as covering non cardiac POCUS. Where learners are new to ultrasound we can use BodyWorks to focus on 2D qualitative cardiovascular ultrasound which still adds a tremendous amount of value to patient care, not to mention the value added by non-cardiac POCUS such as lung ultrasound and the FAST Exam.”
Prior to BodyWorks Eve, the team used standardized patients if available or students would practice on each other’s anatomy with ultrasound. Learning the technique using humans was fine, but showing different pathologies proved to be a challenge. Dr McCullough continued “it was hypothetical, explaining what they may or would see if something was wrong. But using high fidelity simulation, which Eve provides, we can adjust in real time what students are looking at and show them a pericardial effusion or a pneumothorax – what they would really see if something was wrong, so they’re not seeing it for the first time in a critical situation”.
When not travelling overseas to support in-country courses, Eve will be homed in the Anesthesiology Department’s simulation lab where she will be used as part of resident education. 48 anesthesiology residents will have access to and use Eve on a regular basis at the School of Medicine, while a new cohort of international physicians will train using Eve when she travels with the team – unlocking ultrasound for learners in the hundreds, both at home and overseas.
Ashton Evans, Product Manager at Intelligent Ultrasound, commented “It is inspiring to hear how Dr McCullough and his team plan to use BodyWorks Eve and HeartWorks to expand their global teaching footprint. The adoption from the team at Emory University is a prime representation of our company aim to make ultrasound accessible to everyone and provides additional motivation towards numerous projects in 2024 that aim to unlock this further.”
Dr McCullough and the Emory Anesthesiology Team have several courses planned across the world in 2024, we hope to catch up with them later in the year to understand how things are going!
Find out more about BodyWorks Eve:
BodyWorks is a hi-fidelity simulator for Point-of-Care ultrasound (PoCUS) used in critical care, intensive care and emergency medicine.
