The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) is a medical society comprised of hospitalists that exists to promote exceptional care for hospitalized patients.
SHM is at the forefront of point-of-care ultrasound for hospitalists, providing valuable resources, educational programming, and opportunities to further the conversation and application into daily practice. The SHM | CHEST Certificate of Completion (COC) offers pathways for hospitalists to demonstrate their expertise in point-of-care ultrasound. This program offers a comprehensive, hands-on experience to learn the fundamentals of point-of-care ultrasound culminating with a certificate of completion presented by SHM and CHEST. Alternatively, individual courses can be taken to enhance POCUS skills without entering the COC program.
POCUS COC Roadmap
Recipients of the SHM | CHEST POCUS Certificate of Completion must complete all five program requirements within three years of entering the program. The requirements are listed in the recommended order of completion. Portfolio images used for certificate completion must be generated and collected personally after attending one of the live courses.
The SHM POCUS COC Steering Committee is responsible for developing and maintaining the standards for the Certificate of Completion.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly becoming an encouraged tool for hospitalists as it increases efficiency, improves diagnostic accuracy, and aids in the treatment of hospitalized patients. Developed by nationally recognized experts in POCUS, SHM’s “Principles of Point-of-Care Ultrasound” offers in-depth cognitive training across the most impactful applications of POCUS for hospitalists.
Individuals looking to supplement, strengthen, and refine their ultrasound knowledge can purchase the series without pursuing a COC. Members receive a discounted rate at checkout.
Alternatively, COC candidates may satisfy this requirement by completing CHEST’s online series, “Critical Care Ultrasonography: Image Acquisition and Interpretation Modules.” SHM members also receive special pricing on CHEST’s modules. CHEST’s series replaces the Elevate Healthcare’s Critical Care Ultrasound curriculum that was previously part of the program. Those who already purchased the Elevate Healthcare curriculum will still be able to satisfy the e-learning requirement of the program.
Log into your SHM account to access the discount code. Purchase and access CHEST’s modules here.
During this course, attendees review key elements of point-of-care ultrasound applications and practice image acquisition on human models under the guidance of expert faculty. This course provides an in-depth review of ultrasound images demonstrating normal and pathologic findings giving learners a unique and complete learning experience. Ultrasonography: Essentials in Critical Care is offered throughout the year at the CHEST Simulation Center in Glenview, Illinois. SHM members receive special pricing on this course.
Sign in using your SHM username and password to view the discount code.
Upcoming Courses:
POCUS COC candidates must attend an approved multi-day regional ultrasound course. Individuals looking for more training without the certificate program are also eligible to attend.
Upcoming Regional Courses:
CHEST: Integration into
Clinical Practice Course
Chicago, IL
Atlanta POCUS 2025
November 6-7, 2025
Atlanta, GA
UCSF Point of Care Ultrasound for the Hospitalist
November 13-14, 2025
San Francisco, CA
MedStar Health SiTEL
Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) 3-Day Course
November 14-16, 2025
Washington, DC
Hospital Medicine
Point-of-Care Ultrasonography
Februrary 2 – 6, 2026
New York, NY
19th POCUS CME Workshops – 2026
February 12-13, 2026 (Advanced Cardiac POCUS)
February 14-15, 2026 (Adult Basic POCUS and Pediatric POCUS)
Austin, TX
SHM Rocky Mountain Chapter POCUS Regional Course
March 12- 13, 2026
Aurora, CO
Hospital Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasonography
July 27 – 31, 2026
New York, NY
Pacific Northwest General Medicine and Advanced Point of Care Ultrasound Course
Portland, OR
New York Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course – Traditional and Advanced Tracks
New York, NY
SHM Minnesota Chapter Regional
Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course 2025
Bloomington, MN
A key element to training in point-of-care ultrasound is bedside scanning practice. To foster self-directed learning, COC candidates must assemble a portfolio of specific images to be reviewed and approved by an SHM faculty member online. Participants can expect a productive educational experience that will foster ongoing scanning practice and yield high-quality image acquisition. The online image portfolio is particularly beneficial to educators looking to kickstart the development of their teaching file of images for instruction.
Participants will need access to an ultrasound machine with image storage capability. Images should be recorded and exported directly from an ultrasound machine to the online portfolio. The emphasis for portfolio development is image quality. While specific examples of disease are not required, except for specified lung and pleural images, abnormal images are welcome. It is also acceptable to submit a portfolio of all normal images.
This activity has been approved for CME and MOC points.
The SHM | Chest Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion program is designed for all healthcare providers interested in improving their bedside ultrasound skills. The program is geared primarily toward providers that care for acutely ill patients, including hospitalists, internal medicine or family medicine physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.
For more information, contact SHM.
If your goal is to obtain the SHM| CHEST Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion, then you should attend the courses listed above. These courses are taught by experienced SHM and Chest point-of-care ultrasound faculty and have undergone a detailed review of their curricular components, hands-on training experience, course evaluations, and faculty before inclusion in the COC program. Some learners may receive credit for courses previously attended (see “Is there an alternative pathway?” below), but we strongly discourage learners from actively registering for courses that are not listed above if their goal is to complete the COC.
Starting in January 2022, in lieu of Requirement 2 only, CME certificates from other live or virtual POCUS CME courses may be accepted if the CME course included:
Only credit from accredited CME courses will be accepted, and a copy of an official CME certificate must be provided to receive credit. We cannot accept letters or emails from course directors, invoices or registration receipts, copies of the agenda, etc..
To fulfill the live or virtual POCUS CME course requirement for the COC program, participants must attend different POCUS courses on different dates. The same POCUS course cannot be counted multiple times (or taken back-to-back) to fulfill the alternative or traditional pathway requirements. Similarly, for the alternative pathway, the same POCUS cannot be counted twice as the approved regional course (Requirement 3).
If you are an active POCUS user, have completed ≥24 hours of live POCUS CME, and would like to apply for the alternative pathway, please fill out this form.
Please send inquiries to POCUS@hospitalmedicine.org
Cardiac Images (20 studies with the following views per study)
Lung & Pleural Images (5 studies with the following image views per study)
Abdominal Images (5 studies with the following image views per study)
Lower extremity DVT Images (5 studies with the following views per study)
All images should be acquired in a transverse orientation and demonstrate compression at each level.
Skin & Soft Tissue Images (3 studies with the following image views per study)
To begin the program, participants must complete a program requirement (i.e., the online modules or an in-person course). Once the first requirement is completed, participants should enroll in the POCUS COC Self-Management page and upload their certificate. As participants complete the rest of the program’s requirements they should upload all certificates to this page for them to be marked complete.
Acquiring the skills and ability to apply POCUS within internal medicine is increasingly important, and there is no better opportunity to grow than learning from the comprehensive curriculum and expert clinicians involved in the SHM COC.
Thomas Robertson, MD
COC has been instrumental in not only initiating my journey to being a content expert, but also introduced me to world-class faculty, network/collaborate with regional POCUS enthusiasts, teach POCUS at our residency program, and pilot POCUS curriculum development at our organization. Additionally, for my department the certificate can be testament of my attendance in this […]
Amteshwar Singh, MD, FACP