The purpose of the MSK US Competency course is to:

1. Master the knowledge and clinical skills necessary to visualize joints and associated soft tissues.  

2 Provide real time visual education to the patient.

3. Develop a plan of care and treatment intervention.

4. Make appropriate referrals to medical professionals.  

This applied-learning competency course combines live demonstrations, practical hands-on labs, and virtual video learning.  Students participate in small groups of 2 or 3 to practice getting reliable and reproducible US images, which will be evaluated by the instructor with individual feedback provided.   Supervised lab sessions are performed to safely and effectively visualize normal and  pathologic soft tissue structures.

Click here to view the full course agenda.

1. Be able to recognize normal versus abnormal ultrasound anatomy of an upper extremity structure during a lab session.
2. Be able to recognize normal versus abnormal ultrasound anatomy of a lower extremity structure during a lab session.
3. Discuss the current research on the benefits of US guided dry needling for the treatment of tendinopathy in given case study example and during the practical examination.
4. Independently demonstrate competence and safe technique in dry needling while utilizing ultrasound guidance during labs and during the practical examination.
5. Demonstrate and produce high quality US images for an upper and lower extremity structures during lab and certification sessions.
6. Explain and defend the role of musculoskeletal ultrasound in clinical practice.

During the 2-day competency certification course it is the expectation that you will be:

1. Able to dry needle identified soft tissue structures in plane and out of plane under ultrasound guidance.
2. Able to obtain and accurately label evaluative ultrasound images for all the major joints in the body.  

The ultrasound images and information is based on the work of Dr. Randy Moore.