1145: Education, guidelines and accreditation

Abstract

The need for education, guidelines and accreditation is fundamental in providing high quality ultrasonic imaging at both national and international levels. The increasing clinical reliance on breast ultrasound has resulted in societies and organizations providing educational programs, developing guidelines for examinations and interventional procedures and establishing accreditation programs. The International Breast Ultrasound School (IBUS) provides educational programs to improve the standards of practice of breast ultrasound. Programs consisting of lectures and interactive workshops are held in conjunction with scientific meetings or as a stand-alone curriculum over a one to three d period. In response to the increased need for education and accreditation in breast ultrasound, IBUS is providing a new series of five d residential courses in Ferrara, Italy, in association with the University of Ferrara. These international courses satisfy continuing medical education requirements, and participants will be assessed on their competency. The published IBUS guidelines form the basis of recommendations required to become proficient in ultrasonic breast imaging. The experience necessary to achieve accuracy and confidence is based on the examination and reporting of a minimum of 500 breast cases in a multidisciplinary environment, and in order to become proficient with interventional techniques at least 50 procedures must be undertaken. The German Society for Ultrasound in Medicine (DEGUM) has established guidelines for training courses based on a three level structure consisting of basic, advanced and final components. Each component is a two day course supervised by an accredited course director with five years experience in breast ultrasound and has performed at least 5000 breast ultrasound examinations. Course participants receive a certificate on completing theoretical and practical training extending over a period of not less than 9 months. The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) has produced breast ultrasound accreditation guidelines to encourage practices to meet or exceed recognized standards in a number of practice-related areas. Individuals must participate in continuing medical education programs, and practices must demonstrate that examination findings and final reports are monitored. The brochure “AIUM Standard for the Performance of Breast Ultrasound Examinations” documents the minimum criteria for high quality breast ultrasound examinations. The American College of Radiology (ACR) has developed a number of accreditation programs. The “Breast Ultrasound Accreditation Program” evaluates the qualification of personnel, equipment performance, effectiveness of quality control measures, and quality of clinical images. Accreditation can be obtained for ultrasonic imaging alone or in combination with ultrasound-guided biopsy procedures when these are included in the facility. Individuals are required to fulfil qualification criteria, and undertake continuing medical education. The Japanese Society of Ultrasonics in Medicine (JSUM) and the Japan Association of Breast and Thyroid Sonology (JABTS) have published guidelines describing the diagnostic criteria for diffuse and discrete breast lesions based on their long term experience. Recently, the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) published the “Guidelines for Ultrasound Guided Breast Biopsy”, and this document outlines the clinical role of the available percutaneous needle biopsy methods.