The Area of Focused Competence (AFC) in Acute Care Ultrasound Fellowship is a one year training program to train the future leaders of Emergency Medicine ultrasonography.

Program faculty

Dr. Rajiv Thavanathan,
Dr. Rajiv Thavanathan, AFC Program Director

Dr. Rajiv Thavanathan is a staff Emergency Physician at The Ottawa Hospital and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. He completed his fellowship in Acute Care Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) with the department of Emergency Medicine in 2018. He is currently the Fellowship Program Director for the Area of Focused Competence (AFC) Acute Care POCUS after serving for five years in the role of Assistant Program Director.

Dr. Thavanathan has a special interest in resuscitative echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography in the ED, FOAMed, and podcasting. He has developed extensive expertise in POCUS and is committed to advancing education and innovation in the field. In his role as Program Director, he plans to further strengthen the program by enhancing curriculum development, expanding teaching opportunities, and supporting learners in achieving clinical and academic excellence.

Program resources

The Department of Emergency Medicine has three different types of ultrasound machines in each of the General Campus and Civic Campus emergency departments.

Through the University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre (uOSSC) fellows have access to advanced ultrasound simulation technology including a VimidexTM and ScanTrainerTM simulator to augment their learning, particularly in transvaginal ultrasound and transesophageal echo. 

All of our ultrasound machines have digital image archiving capacity to QPathE and PACS. All cart based machines have a full selection of advanced cardiac packages, Doppler, and echocardiography calculators.

Sonosite X-Porte

Sonosite XPorte

There is are 1-2 Sonosite XPorte ultrasound machines with curvilinear, linear, and phased array transducers at each site.
Sparq Ultrasound

Sparq Ultrasound

There are two Phillips Sparq ultrasound machines with curvilinear, linear, phased array, and transesophageal echocardiography transducers at each site.
Lumify Handheld

Lumify Handheld

There is one Phillips Lumify handheld ultrasound probe at each campus with phased array and linear transducers, as well as one additional unit reserved for ultrasound fellows to use exclusively for education and practice.

Last updated - July 2026