A Turn-Key Ultrasound Education Platform for Anesthesiology Residency Programs

Deliver comprehensive ultrasound education, monitor learner progress, and assess competency according to professional society guidelines and practice standards.

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Integrate POCUS into Anesthesiology Residency Programs

Standardize how your program teaches, assesses, and tracks POCUS competency across every resident

Anesthesiology has long been a leader in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia and continues to expand the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) throughout perioperative, critical care, and acute pain management. In response, leading anesthesiology professional societies have published recommendations to guide POCUS education and competency development. 

The 2026 ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Anesthesiology require residents to demonstrate competency in surface ultrasound and echocardiography, including transthoracic and transesophageal imaging, lung ultrasound for the detection of pneumothorax and pleural effusion, and ultrasound guidance for vascular access and regional anesthesia. The American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) has incorporated focused ultrasound of the lungs, inferior vena cava, bladder, and stomach into its certification content outline. In parallel, an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) committee has proposed a diagnostic POCUS scope of practice centered on focused cardiac, gastric, and pleural ultrasound.

Ultrasound has evolved beyond a specialized regional anesthesia skill to become a core competency in anesthesiology1, 2, 3.

The Challenge: Modern anesthesiology residency programs require a scalable approach that enables every resident to achieve competency across the expanding spectrum of POCUS applications.

Programs need to provide:

  • A comprehensive range of POCUS applications, including focused cardiac, lung, gastric, and vascular ultrasound, as well as ultrasound-guided vascular access and regional anesthesia.
  • A forum for learners to readily access to realistic ultrasound scanning that enables deliberate practice across a broad spectrum of pathologic conditions and ultrasound-guided procedures.
  • Scalable tools for faculty to teach, assess, and document competency consistently across every resident and every training cohort.

As ultrasound adoption grows, programs need a standardized, scalable way to prepare residents to meet evolving educational requirements and confidently map the path to competency.

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Prepare Anesthesiology Residents to Use Ultrasound Across the Continuum of Care

Build the confidence to apply POCUS from the preoperative clinic to the operating room and ICU

Meeting the ultrasound requirements is only the beginning. Being ready to use ultrasound in the moments that matter is another. Anesthesiology residents need the knowledge and confidence to assess cardiac function before induction, evaluate for pneumothorax and pleural effusion, estimate gastric aspiration risk, guide vascular access, and perform regional anesthesia across the perioperative, critical care, and procedural settings.

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Anesthesiology programs use SonoSim to standardize how ultrasound is taught, give residents repeated exposure to pathology they cannot count on seeing during a given rotation, and build the judgment to apply POCUS in clinical care.

Programs use SonoSim to support:

  • Standardized POCUS training aligned with competency expectations, including focused cardiac, lung, and gastric ultrasound, as well as ultrasound-guided vascular access and regional anesthesia
  • Development of scanning skills through repeatable deliberate practice, independent of clinical volume, patient availability, or case mix, using scanning cases from real patients via the SonoSimulator®
  • Building clinical decision-making skills reliant on POCUS in perioperative and critical care management, from preoperative assessment and intraoperative decision-making to postoperative and ICU care

Support Your Faculty and Scale Ultrasound Across the Program

Help faculty teach, assess, and document ultrasound competency without adding to their clinical workload

Anesthesiology faculty are highly experienced ultrasound users, but the pace of perioperative care often limits opportunities for structured bedside teaching. Faculty expertise also varies across ultrasound applications, so residents may receive uneven exposure to focused cardiac, lung, gastric, vascular access, or regional anesthesia ultrasound depending on their clinical rotations. Despite these realities, programs remain responsible for ensuring every resident achieves competency across the required ultrasound applications.

SonoSim provides a standardized ultrasound curriculum that complements faculty efforts, ensuring core instruction is not dependent on any individual attending's availability or area of expertise. Faculty can assign structured learning, reinforce concepts through hands-on scanning with real patient pathology in the SonoSimulator®, monitor individual resident progress, identify competency gaps, and document performance across the residency program, all while minimizing the impact on valuable clinical care time.

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The SonoSim ecosystem supports anesthesiology programs with:

  • 85+ on-demand courses covering the ultrasound applications relevant to anesthesiology, including focused cardiac and lung imaging, echocardiography, and ultrasound-guided vascular access
  • Hands-on scanning of pathologic cases from real patients in the SonoSimulator®, giving every resident consistent, repeatable virtual scanning practice regardless of the day's caseload
  • Built-in assessment tools that help faculty evaluate competency and support each resident's progression
  • Progress tracking and reporting that let program leadership monitor resident development and document competency across cohorts
  • A validated and proven† approach that gives faculty the essential building blocks to develop ultrasound competency across the program
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Meeting Ultrasound Training Requirements for Anesthesiology Residency Doesn't Have to be Difficult.

Give every resident a standardized pathway to develop & demonstrate POCUS competency.

Integrate Ultrasound into Clinical Decision-Making with SonoSim LiveScan®

Prepare residents to apply ultrasound in the moments that matter at the point of care

SonoSim LiveScan extends ultrasound education beyond the screen, empowering programs assess how residents apply ultrasound in realistic, dynamic clinical scenarios. By combining live scanning with simulated pathology and evolving patient conditions, SonoSim LiveScan enables faculty to evaluate trainees' competency in ultrasound image acquisition, image interpretation, and their integration of ultrasound findings into clinical decision-making.

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  • Run realistic, live scenarios that strengthen how residents apply ultrasound to clinical decision-making across anesthesiology settings
  • Instantly transform any manikin or live volunteer into a simulated patient presenting relevant pathology
  • Add another layer of realism by dynamically adjusting patient conditions in response to resident decision-making

Building Ultrasound Competency for Anesthesiology Programs

A practical, program-specific approach to training & assessment

Anesthesiology residency programs must prepare residents to use ultrasound confidently across perioperative, critical care, and procedural settings. As leading anesthesiology societies publish new recommendations for point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) education and competency development, programs are under growing pressure to implement standardized, scalable ultrasound training that prepares every resident for clinical practice.

Programs use SonoSim to deliver a structured, competency-based approach to ultrasound education. Residents build foundational knowledge through interactive didactic content and develop hands-on scanning skills using a comprehensive library of virtual patient cases that reflect real-world clinical scenarios. Educators can monitor learner progress, assess competency, and provide timely, targeted feedback throughout training. Through deliberate practice, residents develop proficiency in ultrasound image acquisition and interpretation while learning to integrate ultrasound findings into clinical decision-making at the point of care.

For faculty, SonoSim helps standardize training and assessment across cohorts while integrating into existing curricula. Programs can support hands-on scanning, supervised practice, and observed performance as residents progress toward independent clinical use of ultrasound.

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Train to the Standards Defining Modern Anesthesiology POCUS Education

SonoSim provides standardized, competency-based ultrasound education for anesthesiology residents across the full range of point-of-care ultrasound applications, from airway and lung ultrasound to gastric imaging, focused assessment with sonography for trauma, and focused cardiac ultrasound. Our content is aligned with the latest recommendations from leading anesthesiology organizations and certifying bodies, mapped to the educational objectives and competency expectations that define contemporary anesthesiology POCUS training, and grounded in the POCUS domains established by expert panel recommendations. This gives residency programs a validated and proven† platform for delivering education that meets today's competency standards. SonoSim content is mapped to:

ACGME Anesthesiology POCUS Guidelines 2026

American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)  Committee Recommendations

American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine (ASRA) POCUS Recommendations 4, 5
     Part I: Clinical Indications

     Part II: Education & Competency Recommendations

American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) Certification Expectations

Relevant Modules Include:

Physics

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Physics & Fundamentals
• Anatomy & Physiology

Cardiac

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Cardiology Clinical
• Core Clinical
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FoCUS Advanced Clinical Part 1
• Advanced Clinical
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FoCUS Advanced Clinical Part 2
• Advanced Clinical
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Resuscitative Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE)
• Advanced Clinical
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Ultrasound-Guided Pericardiocentesis Procedure
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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SonoSim LiveScan
• Cardiac Resuscitation Pathologic Cases
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SonoSim LiveScan
• Trauma Care Pathologic Cases

Lung

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Pulmonary Clinical
• Core Clinical
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Pediatric Lung Sonography
• Advanced Clinical
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Ultrasound-Guided Thoracentesis Procedure
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedure
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SonoSim LiveScan
• Critical Care Cases
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SonoSim LiveScan
• Trauma Care Pathologic Cases

Airway

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FAST

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FAST Protocol
• Core Clinical
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eFAST Protocol
• Core Clinical
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Basic Obstetric – Six-Step Approach
• Core Clinical
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SonoSim LiveScan
• Trauma Care Pathologic Cases

Gastric

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Aorta & Inferior Vena Cava (IVC)
• Anatomy & Physiology
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Vascular

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Subclavian Vein Cannulation
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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Internal Jugular Vein Cannulation
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedure
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Femoral Line Placement
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Lower Extremity
• Core Clinical

Procedures

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Ultrasound-Guided Procedures Introductory Training
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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Ultrasound-Guided Paracentesis Procedure
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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Ultrasound-Guided Thoracentesis Procedure
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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Ultrasound-Guided Pericardiocentesis Procedure
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures
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Intro to Regional Anesthesia
• Ultrasound-Guided Procedures

MSK/Soft Tissue

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Renal/Genitourinary

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Ocular

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The SonoSim ecosystem supports anesthesiology programs with:

  • Structured didactic learning: On-demand ultrasound education covering anatomy and physiology, along with the core, advanced, and procedural applications relevant to anesthesiology.
  • SonoSimulator® scanning with pathology: Hands-on ultrasound simulation featuring a wide range of patient cases and pathology, enabling consistent, repeatable practice beyond variable clinical encounters.
  • Deliberate practice and challenge cases: Opportunities for residents to apply ultrasound findings in clinically relevant scenarios that mirror real-world decision-making across perioperative and critical care settings.
  • Performance assessment and progress tracking: Tools that help faculty monitor resident development, support consistent competency evaluation, and identify gaps across cohorts.
  • Flexible integration into existing curricula: Designed to align with how anesthesiology programs teach ultrasound, supporting standardized training without adding unnecessary burden to faculty.

Review the full SonoSim Ecosystem

  • Learn

  • Scan

  • Practice

  • Track

  • Study

  • Apply

  • Integrate

Learn

Interactive Ultrasound Courses

Explore SonoSim's comprehensive library of on-demand online ultrasound courses covering thousands of ultrasound applications. Authored by leading experts, our interactive and multimedia courses combine regional anatomy, sonographic insight, practical imaging techniques, real patient cases, and helpful videos. Get engaged with our CME*-eligible blend of learning tools.

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Hands-On Virtual Ultrasound Scanning

Unlock hands-on ultrasound experience with the SonoSimulator®. This proven methodology breaks down the traditional barriers to ultrasound learning, offering access to thousands of real patient scanning opportunities of pathologic conditions.

For beginners and practicing physicians alike, our software provides on-demand, AI-driven performance assessments, guided probe positioning, and immediate feedback. Learn to acquire and interpret ultrasound images on a laptop, with support from a virtual tutor, right at your fingertips.

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Risk-Free Practice of Ultrasound-Guided Procedures

Real-time ultrasound guidance for procedures like peripheral IV access is rapidly becoming the standard of care, demanding not only significant knowledge but also refined psychomotor skills.

SonoSim's training environment offers learners a safe and convenient space to hone these essential abilities. With unrestricted access to deliberate practice, SonoSim users can build the knowledge, skill, and confidence needed for success in ultrasound-guided procedures.

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Track & Assess Progress

SonoSim revolutionizes learner assessment by offering comprehensive tools to monitor progress, deliver feedback, and even automate ultrasound image review. These features combine to alleviate the most time-consuming parts of managing ultrasound programs, allowing for more focused and effective training. And for learners, this feature provides access to ultrasound image portfolios which are useful for job and internship applications. 

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Build & Hone Knowledge with Study Tools & Resources

Now, more accessible than ever, learners can review and study ultrasound on-the-go. With case-based learning in our SonoSim QuestionBank, ultrasound case studies become powerful tools to test and reinforce knowledge. Plus, we offer an SPI exam study guide and ultrasound physics review questions, catering to learners of all backgrounds and needs. Our Challenge Cases give learners quick cases to challenge their skills. And a mobile app provides key references on any device.

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Bring Ultrasound Simulation to Life

SonoSim LiveScan® offers an immersive, versatile tool for teaching & evaluating the integration of ultrasound into medical decision-making. Whether used with live volunteers or existing manikins, SonoSim LiveScan seamlessly incorporates ultrasound into scenario-based medical simulations, providing more realistic and enriching learning experiences.

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Integrate SonoSim into Your Curriculum

We work closely with you to construct a thriving ultrasound training program tailored to your organization's needs. SonoSim's all-encompassing approach, featuring tools, expert guidance, resources, and support, ensures a smooth incorporation of ultrasound education into your existing curriculum. By empowering both educators and learners, our ecosystem unlocks the full potential of ultrasound, providing a pathway to success.

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Let's talk about POCUS Training for Your Anesthesiology Program

Talk to an Advisor about meeting requirements at your program