top of page

Philosophy

Cardiac Skills Australia specialises in focused echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound) training for medical specialists. Our training acknowledges the growing demand for 'point of care' ultrasound and its role as a fundamental tool for diagnostic evaluation. 

Our workshops use a step-by-step approach to teach the skills necessary for performing diagnostic cardiac ultrasound. Tuition by experienced cardiac sonographers & clinicians; an emphasis on hands-on training; and small group settings (1:3 ratio), means that delegates walk away being able to confidently perform a basic focused echocardiography exam. 

 

History

Kellie D’Orsa is an experienced cardiac sonographer and qualified educator, bringing sonography experience and expertise to medical ultrasound education.

During her time performing cardiac ultrasound (echocardiography or ‘echo’) in cardiology and critical care departments of tertiary level hospitals (Alfred Hospital Melbourne), Kellie witnessed the growth of clinician-performed ultrasound. It was a natural progression for her to combine her passion for echo and education, and become an echo educator for medical practitioners using ‘point of care’ ultrasound (POCUS). As a result Cardiac Skills Australia was formed January 2013.

As Director of Cardiac Skills Australia, Kellie teaches the principles and applications of focused echo to a range of medical professionals; from medical students to critical care specialists and remote practitioners who use their ultrasound skills to literally save lives.

Previous skill set includes: Lecturer in Medical Imaging at Deakin University, Kellie is ensuring medical undergraduates are being taught to incorporate ultrasound as a clinical skill into their practice from the beginning of their careers. Kellie's skill set also includes 9 years experience as a PBL problem based learning facilitator (School of medicine Deakin University Geelong).
Cardiac Skills Australia's Kellie D'Orsa has been asked to participate as a contributing author, alongside Bonita Anderson and other esteemed educators in the development of the new "Basic to Advanced Clinical Echocardiography. A Self-Assessment Tool for the Cardiac Sonographer" text book to be published by Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Health.
2019 Kellie has recently been appointed an honorary teaching position in the Anaesthetics/ICU Department at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne.

Faculty 

Director

Kellie D'Orsa BSc, DMU (Cardiac), AMS, GCHELT 

 

Medical Faculty

 

  • Dr Pankaj Gupta MBBS, FNB,  FRACP in Paediatric Cardiology, Cardiologist, Fellowship in Cardiac MRI, Boston Childrens, USA "Hands on teaching". 

  • Dr Mark Rugless Emergency specialist St Vincent's hospital, Melbourne. Speaker.

  • Dr Brian Doyle Emergency specialist Royal Hobart Hospital. Speaker

  • Dr Cartan Costello  MB BCH BAO, FCICM, FACRRM, FRACGP, BA Com, Grad Dip Crit Care Echo. Staff Specialist, Intensive Care Wollongong Hospital

Echo educators

Selected accredited cardiac sonographers

Approved
CPD activity

Our workshops are an approved professional development activity for the following organisations and colleges.  In addition accredited for CCPU ASUM log units; Focused Echocardiography in Life Support (FELS) & Rapid cardiac echo RCE.

 ‘Diastolic Function & measurement made Easy workshop is approved for 6.5 ACEM CPD hours’

bottom of page