Short Course

Renal and Bladder Ultrasound Course

A Practical One-Day Point-of-Care Ultrasound Course

Ultrasound has become an indispensable bedside investigation in nephrology and urology, allowing clinicians to rapidly assess renal morphology, urinary obstruction and bladder pathology while avoiding delays associated with formal imaging.

This intensive one-day course provides a practical introduction to renal and bladder ultrasound. Participants will learn the principles of ultrasound image acquisition before developing the skills required to perform a focused examination of the kidneys and bladder, recognise common pathology and understand the strengths and limitations of point-of-care ultrasound.

No previous ultrasound experience is required.

Key Information

Duration:
One Day Intensive Course
Location:
The Notch Conference Center, Kappara
Price:
€250
A Certificate of Attendance will be provided after the course.
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Course Format

This course uses a flipped classroom approach.

Participants receive access to the Ultrasound Academy online learning portal several weeks before the course, where they complete approximately 3–4 hours of self-paced learning.

Completion of the online modules ensures that the face-to-face course is devoted almost entirely to supervised practical scanning and clinical case discussion.

Participants practise on modern, high-quality ultrasound systems, with an instructor-to-candidate ratio of 1:5 ensuring adequate hands-on scanning time, individual feedback and personalised mentoring.

Clinical Applications

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

  • Understand the basic physics of ultrasound relevant to image acquisition
  • Select the appropriate probe and optimise image quality using depth, gain and focal zone
  • Optimise probe handling and manipulation to acquire the desired views
  • Recognise common ultrasound artefacts

Participants will be able to:

  • Obtain longitudinal and transverse views of both kidneys
  • Identify normal renal anatomy
  • Measure renal length accurately
  • Assess cortical thickness and corticomedullary differentiation
  • Assess renal parenchymal thickness
  • Identify hydronephrosis and grade its severity
  • Differentiate hydronephrosis from common mimics
  • Identify simple renal cysts
  • Recognise features requiring urgent formal imaging 

Participants will be able to:

  • Perform systematic bladder examination
  • Measure post-void residual volume
  • Identify bladder wall thickening
  • Recognise intravesical calculi
  • Identify common bladder masses requiring referral

Participants will understand the role of bedside ultrasound in:

  • Acute kidney injury 
  • Obstructive uropathy 
  • Chronic kidney disease 
  • Urinary retention 
  • Haematuria 
  • Renal colic 
  • Catheter-related assessment

Programme

  • 08:15  – 08:30
    Registration
  • 08:30 – 09:00
    Demo – Ultrasound Fundamentals & Image Optimisation
  • 09:00 – 10:00
    Practice 1 – Ultrasound Fundamentals & Image Optimisation
  • 10:00 – 10:15
    Coffee Break
  • 10:15 – 10:45
    Demo– Renal Ultrasound
  • 10:45 – 11:00
    Practice 2 – Renal Ultrasound
  • 11:00 – 11:15
    Demo – Bladder Ultrasound
  • 11:15 – 12:15
    Practice 3 – Bladder Ultrasound
  • 12:15 – 13:00
    Case Based Discussion 1
  • 13:00 – 13:30
    Lunch
  • 13:30 – 14:45
    Practice 4 – Renal & Bladder scan practice
  • 14:45 – 16:00
    Case Based Discussion 2

Course Schedule

Course Dates
Status
30th Nov, 2026 - 30th Nov, 2026
Open Limited Places

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