Educational Initiatives

GenIUS

Last updated : 22/04/2025 - 1812 views

The General Intensive Care Ultrasound (GenIUS) pathway is a certification offered by ESICM to practitioners who want to acquire a basic level of competence in critical care ultrasound based on the last recommendations (Robba et al. 2021) and in agreement with the CoBaTrICE.

The Pathway includes learning components in line with the latest advances in continuous medical education (CME):

  • Online modules
  • Web-based Virtual Reality Experience (VRE)
  • Online monothematic sessions
  • Online mentoring
  • Onsite courses
  • Onsite workshop

The participants will also get access to the e-book of the “Basic ultrasound head-to-toe skills for intensivists in the general and neuro intensive care unit population” for self-study.

Core Faculty

Directors

  • Laura GALARZA MD, PhD, Consultant Intensive Care Medicine at General University Hospital Castellón, Spain
  • Adrian WONG MD, Consultant Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia at King’s College Hospital, United Kingdom

Core faculty

  • Cosmin BALAN MD, PhD, Consultant Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
  • Bernard CHOLLEY MD, PhD, Faculty Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Oliver HUNSICKER MD Consultant Intensive Care Medicine at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (CCM, CVK), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
  • Chiara ROBBA MD, PhD Head of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, San Martino Polyclinic Hospital,Genova, Italy
  • Mateusz ZAWADKA MD, PhD, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Department, Central Teaching Hospital, Warsaw, Poland
Overview

The GENIUS Pathway is a 2-year blended learning programme involving online and onsite practical components that aim at helping participants to acquire and reinforce the basic skills required for head-to-toe ultrasonography in the intensive care setting. The online components of the pathway are included in the registration fees. However, participants must register separately for the onsite practical courses and workshops. Onsite courses are offered both at the ESICM Annual Congress and locally by ESICM-certified trainers, while workshops take place exclusively at the ESICM Annual Congress.

Objectives

Cardiac: Describe, perform and interpret transthoracic cardiac ultrasound for the recognition and assessment of common conditions and clinical syndromes
Thoracic: Describe, perform and interpret thoracic and pleural ultrasound
Abdominal: Describe, perform and interpret ultrasonographic assessment of the abdomen
Neurology: Describe, perform and interpret basic neuro ultrasonography
Vascular: Describe, perform and interpret basic vascular ultrasonography

Integrate these individual modalities for a holistic assessment of the critically unwell patient

Target
  • Junior physicians with an ICU background wishing to acquire or improve their core critical care ultrasound core competencies
  • Senior intensivists seeking a refresher training programme in the field
Learning Components

The 2-year Genius Pathway includes :

  • Online self-learning components:
    • e-book: Basic Ultrasound Skills Head to Toe for General Intensivists
    • 2 interactive clinical cases delivered through web-based Virtual Reality Experience
    • 6 online modules covering : Physics of ultrasound, Abdomen, Cardiac, Lung, Neuro, and Vascular ultrasounds.
  • Online live sessions:
    • 3 monothematic sessions per year covering: cardiac arrest, sepsis, fluid management, neurotrauma, hypoxia, ultrasound in emergencies.
    • 1 online mentoring session per year: an interactive session to discuss controversial cases with the experts. The delegates can submit their images/cases for discussion.
  • Onsite practical courses and workshops (separate registration required)

To ensure the acquisition of the required skills required for head-to-toe ultrasonography in the intensive care setting, participants will have the opportunity to join practical courses offered either at the ESICM Annual Congress or locally, delivered by ESICM certified trainers.

Certification

To get the GENIUS certificate, pathway participants must complete the mandatory components and collect 50 points within 2 years :

  • Online modules (mandatory): 3 points/module 
  • Web-based Virtual Reality Experience (VRE): 1 point/VRE
  • Online monothematic sessions: 4 points/session
  • Online mentoring: 3 points/session
  • Onsite courses (mandatory): 12 points
  • Onsite Workshop: 4 points/workshop 

*The participants who attended the GENIUS pre-congress courses at LIVES 2022, 2023 or 2024 are not required to complete the onsite course again.

Become a GenIUS trainer

Any country can approach ESICM to host a GENIUS local course, but to do so they need their trainers to be trained in the methodology of the pathway and certified by ESICM. Anyone with 3+ years experience and/or national/international certification in ultrasound can apply to be a trainer. To apply, please send the below documents to education@esicm.org:

  • Application form – HERE
  • CV
  • Motivation letter
  • Support letter from your head of department/training

The application will be reviewed by the ESICM GENIUS core faculty. If the application is accepted, the future trainers will need to complete all the online modules, attend a Faculty Development Day and a GenIUS onsite course run by established faculty before being certified as a GENIUS trainer.

The Faculty Development Day will focus on guiding the future GENIUS trainers into the localized courses education modalities, engaging showcases on delivering the course and valuable tips to inspire and connect with your trainees.

This is your chance to level up and become a GENIUS-certified trainer—an opportunity to not miss!

The ESICM certified trainers who deliver at least 2 local practical courses in 2 years will get a free entry to the ESICM Annual Congress.

Support Emerging Nations and Eastern Europe

ESICM members from the Emerging Nations and Eastern Europe (see list of countries here) are entitled to a discount on registration fees. To qualify, participants must be active ESICM members for the current year. To become a member, please see more information here.

Further questions? Contact us at education@esicm.org