Ultrasonography is one of the most useful tools in veterinary medicine because it allows us to evaluate soft tissue structures in real time. Unlike radiographs, ultrasound helps us assess organ texture, fluid, movement, blood flow, pregnancy, and many internal abnormalities that cannot easily be appreciated on x-ray alone.

However, ultrasound is highly operator-dependent. It requires proper anatomy knowledge, hand coordination, patience, and practice. Even finding normal organs consistently can already be challenging in the beginning.

I took this short course because I wanted to better understand internal medicine, staging, and diagnostics. The more I learned, the more I appreciated how ultrasound combines science, anatomy, and muscle memory all at once.

I went all the way to Guangzhou for this ultrasonography workshop, and honestly, it was scary again hahaha, especially because there were a lot of activities involving groupmates and hands on practice. Good thing there were familiar faces I could rely on, which made everything feel less intimidating. And of course, I was so happy that Dr. Spattini was one of the mentors guiding us throughout the training.

This workshop really focused on the basics of basics, which I honestly appreciated so much. We learned about ultrasound knobology, how to properly adjust settings, optimize images, and understand what all those buttons actually do instead of randomly pressing them hahaha. We kept going back to anatomy over and over again because ultrasonography really forces you to understand anatomy in a deeper and more three dimensional way.

We also discussed common diseases seen in each organ system and how to systematically examine the liver, spleen, kidneys, urinary bladder, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, reproductive organs, and lymph nodes. I also learned the importance of probe positioning, patient preparation, recognizing normal vs abnormal echogenicity, identifying fluid, masses, organ enlargement, and understanding artifacts that can sometimes confuse interpretation.

Honestly, I felt like I really needed to take ultrasound because it perfectly complements the previous courses I attended, especially radiology and oncology. How can I properly stage cancer patients if I don’t even know how to confidently operate and interpret ultrasound findings? Since many of us learn things on our own back home, having this kind of workshop somehow gave me more clarity and direction.

One thing I really appreciated was during our hands on session with the beagles, one of the dogs unexpectedly had pancreatitis, which became such a beautiful accidental finding for learning hahaha. Seeing an actual clinical case during practice made everything feel more real and memorable instead of purely theoretical.

Ultrasonography honestly humbled me a lot. At first, all I could see were random shades of black, gray, and white moving around the screen hahaha. But slowly, as you become more patient with yourself and stop moving your hands around too much, things start becoming clearer. One thing my mentor noticed immediately was how impatient I was while scanning hahaha. I kept moving too quickly while browsing, when in reality the ultrasound machine needs a little time to deliver and build the image properly. If your hands keep moving nonstop, it becomes almost impossible to appreciate and interpret what you’re actually seeing on the screen.

I realized that for us to become good at something, we really need to put effort into practicing consistently. Even just scanning a normal healthy young adult dog or cat every day for at least two months can already be a huge first step toward improvement. Once you become familiar with what normal looks like, it becomes much easier to recognize and compare when something unusual finally appears.

That honestly taught me something beyond ultrasonography too, sometimes learning also requires slowing down.

I think what I love most about ultrasound is that it feels like solving a puzzle in real time. Every movement of the probe changes the story you see on the screen. And somehow, despite how mentally exhausting it is, it also made me excited to continue improving little by little.