Department of Emergency Medicine

Ultrasound

Developing and maintaining excellence in emergency department diagnostic and procedural point-of-care ultrasound.

Breadcrumb

Ultrasound

Developing and maintaining excellence in emergency department diagnostic and procedural point-of-care ultrasound.

The mission of the Division of Emergency Ultrasound (EUS) is to develop and maintain excellence in emergency department diagnostic and procedural point-of-care ultrasound. The division provides education to residents, medical students, faculty, and fellows. In addition, we are actively conducting multiple emergency ultrasound research projects and we provide continuous quality assurance on all of the images obtained in our department.

Dr. Kristin Dwyer MD, MPH is the director of the Ultrasound Fellowship and the director of the Division of Emergency Ultrasound (EUS) which consists of a vibrant and dedicated staff. Dr. Erika Constantine is the Pediatric EUS director. Dr. Shirley Wu is the Medical School EUS program director. Dr. Otto Liebmann provides integral support for all aspects of the program including resident rotation, journal clubs and quality assurance.

Faculty

Division Director

  • woman smiling wearing a lab coat against a grey background

    Caitlin Azzo, MD

    Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Clinician Educator
  • Erika Constantine, MD

    Erika Constantine, MD

    Director, PEM Ultrasound, Professor, Emergency Medicine & Pediatrics, Clinician Educator
  • Almaz dessie in a white coat

    Almaz Dessie, MD

    Director, Diversity & Inclusion; Chair, Brown Emergency Medicine BDEI Group; Director, Pediatric EM Ultrasound Fellowship; Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine
  • Otto Liebmann, MD

    Otto Liebmann, MD

    Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, teaching Scholar
  • joseph pare in a suit against a white background

    Joseph Pare, MD

    Director, Emergency Ultrasound Research, Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine
  • Leland Perice, MD

    Leland Perice, MD

    Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Clinician Educator
  • Jennifer Rogers, MD

    Jennifer Rogers, MD

    Director, Emergency Ultrasound Education, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Clinician Educator
  • Shirley Wu, MD

    Shirley Wu, MD

    Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Clinician Educator

Education

Residents get EUS training throughout their four-year program. During their intern year, residents have a dedicated one month-long EUS rotation which is followed by on-shift training. There is an additional EUS elective that many senior EM residents take advantage of to hone their basic skills or develop new more advanced techniques before graduating.  PEM fellows follow a comprehensive ultrasound curriculum which spans over the course of their 3 years of training and includes scanning, teaching and image review.  Medical students from either The Warren Alpert Medical School or visiting students from other medical schools can elect to participate in a one month EUS elective where they perform ultrasound scans with faculty and residents in the emergency department. Fellows complete a one-year EUS Fellowship program that prepares EM residency graduates to become fellowship directors at academic and community hospitals.

Research

Department Research

The research program in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island, Miriam, Newport and Hasbro Children's Hospital was established to support investigator-initiated research and pharmaceutical, biologic and biomedical device trials.

The program is supported by a departmental Senior Research Administrator, a pre-award Research Administrator, a Research Program Administrator, two Clinical Research Coordinators, and a staff of Clinical Research Assistants.

The department maintains clinical research space within the RIH ED as well as fully-equipped basic science laboratories, and has ongoing collaborations with Brown University and other hospital departments.

The four main focus areas of the emergency medicine research program are (1) injury prevention and control, (2) cardiovascular, neurologic, and resuscitation science, (3) pediatric, age, and gender specific care, and (4) healthcare systems science. The program is overseen by Dr. Gregory Jay, Vice Chair for Research.

Division Research

Current and recent projects include:

  • TAPSE for pulmonary embolism (multi-center study)
  • MAPSE for heart failure
  • Carotid ultrasound for resuscitation 
  • Lung ultrasound for traumatic pneumothorax
  • REASON – EUS in Cardiac Arrest (multi-center study)
  • STONE – Utility of point-of-care ultrasound in Renal Colic (multi-center study) 
  • Pediatric POCUS appy study (multi-center study)

Proplesch M, Merz AA, Claggett BL, Lewis EF, Dwyer KH, Crousillat DR, Lau ES, Silverman MB, Peck J, Rivero J, Cheng S, Platz E. Right atrial structure and function in patients with hypertension and with chronic heart failure. Echocardiography. 2018 Jul;35(7):905-914. doi: 10.1111/echo.13876. Epub 2018 Mar 30.

Dwyer KH, Merz AA, Lewis EF, Claggett BL, Crousillat DR, Lau ES, Silverman MB, Peck J, Rivero J, Cheng S, Platz E. Pulmonary Congestion by Lung Ultrasound in Ambulatory Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced or Preserved Ejection Fraction and Hypertension. .J Card Fail. 2018 Apr;24(4):219-226. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2018.02.004. Epub 2018 Mar 1.

Dwyer KH, Rempell JS, Stone MB. Diagnosing centrally located pulmonary embolisms in the emergency department using point-of-care ultrasound. Am J Emerg Med. 2018 Jul;36(7):1145-1150. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2017.11.033. Epub 2017 Nov 14.

Gaspari R, Weekes A, Adhikari S, Noble V, Nomura JT, Theodoro D, Woo M, Atkinson P, Blehar D, Brown S, Caffery T, Douglass E, Fraser J, Haines C, Lam S, Lanspa M, Lewis M, Liebmann O, Limkakeng A, Lopez F, Platz E, Mendoza M, Minnigan H, Moore C, Novik J, Rang L, Scruggs W, Raio C. A retrospective study of pulseless electrical activity, bedside ultrasound identifies interventions during resuscitation associated with improved survival to hospital admission. A REASON Study. Resuscitation. 2017 Nov;120:103-107. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2017.09.008. Epub 2017 Sep 13.

Dwyer KH, Rempell JS. A Case of Syncope. Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med. 2017 Oct 3;1(4):427-429. doi: 10.5811/cpcem.2017.4.33725. eCollection 2017 Nov.  

Pearlmutter M, Dwyer KH, Burke L, Rathlev N, Maranda L, Volturo G. Analysis of Emergency Department Length of Stay for Mental Health Patients at Ten Massachusetts Emergency Departments. Ann Emerg Med. 2017 Aug;70(2):193-202.e16. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.10.005. Epub 2017 Jan 4.

Dwyer KH, Rempell J. Young Woman with a Fever and Chest Pain. West J of Emerg Med. 2016;17(2):186-187.

Janicki A, Liebmann O. Ultrasound Evaluation of Upper Extremity Deformity. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2016; 17(1): 61-62

Samuels L, Dwyer K, Baird J, Mello M, Kellogg A, Bernstein E. Emergency Department Opioid Harm Reduction: Assessing provider willingness. Acad Emerg Med. 2016 Apr;23(4):455-65

Dwyer K, Walley AY, Langlois BK, Mitchell PM, Nelson KP, Cromwell J, Bernstein E. A Brief Report: Opioid Education and Nasal Naloxone Rescue Kits in the Emergency Department. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine April 2015.

Frenkel O, Liebmann O, Fischer J. Forearm Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Blocks in Kids (FUNK): A Novel Method for Pain Control in the Treatment of Hand Injured Pediatric Patients in the Emergency Department.  Pediatric Emergency Care. 2015; 31(4): 255-259

Jauregui J, Nelson D, Choo E, Stearns, B, Levine A, Liebmann O; Shah S. External Validation and Comparison of Three Pediatric Clinical Dehydration Scales. PLOS ONE-Peer Reviewed Open Access Journal. May 2014;10.1371/journal.pone.0095739

Jauregui J, Choo E, Stearns B, Levine A, Liebmann O, Shah S.  Bedside Ultrasound to Detect Dehydration in Youth: The BUDDY Study. Critical Ultrasound Journal.  2014; 6(15): 1-8.

 Limpahan L, Baier R, Gravenstein S, Liebmann O, Gardner R. Best practices for emergency department cross-setting communication. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. September 2013; 31 (9): 1297-1301

Mackenzie DC, Liebmann O. Point of Care Ultrasound Facilitates Diagnosis of Posterior Shoulder Dislocation. Journal of Emergency Medicine. The Journal of Emergency Medicine. May 2013; 44 (5): 976–978.

Beaudoin F, Haran J, Liebmann, O. A Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Three-in-One Femoral Nerve Block Versus Parenteral Opioids Alone for Analgesia in Emergency Department Patients with Hip Fractures: A Randomized Controlled Trial.  Academic Emergency Medicine. June 2013; 20 (6) 584-591.

Mackenzie D, Liebmann O. Identification of mononucleosis-related spleen infarction by emergency department ultrasound. Journal of Emergency Medicine.  February 2013; 44(2):450-2

Daulaire S, Fine L, Salmon M, Liebmann O, Shah S, Teismann N. Ultrasound assessment of optic disc edema in patients with headache. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. October 2012; 30(8):1651-4

Taggart I, Voskoboynik N, Liebmann O.  Emergency Department Point-of-care Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Ankle Fractures in Children.  The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. September 2011; 30 (7):1328.

Beaudoin FL, Merchant RC, Lincoln J, Gardiner F, Liebmann O, Cohn J.  Bedside ultrasonography detects significant femoral vessel overlap: implications for central venous cannulation.  Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. July 2011;13(4):245-50

Liebmann O, Salz T, Price D, Wilson S. An Initial Description of a Sonographic Sign That Verifies Intra-thoracic Chest Tube Placement.  American Journal of Emergency Medicine. July 2009; Published Online.

Mills C, Liebmann O, Stone M, Frazee B. Ultrasonographically Guided Insertion of a 15-cm Catheter into the Deep Brachial or Basilic Vein in Patients With Difficult Intravenous Access. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2007; 50: 68-72

Gibbs FJ, Murphy MC. Ultrasound Guidance for Central Venous Catheter Placement. Hospital Physician 2006.

Liebmann O, Price D, Mills C, Wang R, Wilson S, Gray A.  Feasibility of Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Blocks of the Forearm Radial, Ulnar, and Median Nerves for Hand Procedures in the Emergency Department.  Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2006; 48: 558-562.

Fellowship

Brown's Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship is EUFAC credentialed, and our core faculty who qualify completed and passed their FPD AEMUS exam in 2022. At Brown, we offer a clinical ultrasound fellowship that accepts both adult and pediatric emergency medicine applicants and also considers applicants with an interest in POCUS with non-emergency medicine training such as internal medicine trained physicians. In addition, we run a non-clinical fellowship that hosts learners from all over the world, who want to come to Brown for a year to learn ultrasound alongside our team. We participate in the NRMP match and look forward to receiving your application and having the opportunity to tell you more about what makes our program so special.

Learn more about our fellowship program below.

Ultrasound Fellowship

Photo Gallery

people posing in front of a sign that says Department of Emergency Medicine
1 of 13
people posing with ultrasound equipment
2 of 13
people posing with ultrasound equipment
3 of 13
doctors giving a patient an ultrasound
4 of 13
two people posing with ultrasound equipment
5 of 13
person with ultrasound equipment
6 of 13
person trying ultrasound equipment on other person's leg
7 of 13
two people posing for a photo
8 of 13
two people in hospital scrubs posing for a photo
9 of 13
two people in masks and hospital garb looking at an ultrasound
10 of 13
several people posing for a photo
11 of 13
people posing with ultrasound equipment
12 of 13
two people posing in front of a TV with wine bottles
13 of 13