Wavelength Academy · Small parts
Time-critical small parts: the eye and the scrotum
Two presentations where minutes matter and the bedside scan helps, if you know its limits: sudden visual symptoms and the acute scrotum. Learn the safe technique, the dynamic signs, and why neither scan should delay the specialist.
- 1 hour CPD
- 5 lessons
- 4 cases
- 12-question assessment
- Pass mark 80%
- Free
What you will learn
- Scan the eye safely, within ophthalmic output limits and with no pressure on the globe
- Separate retinal detachment, posterior vitreous detachment and vitreous haemorrhage using after-movements
- Scan the scrotum and spermatic cord in a systematic, side-to-side way
- Recognise the signs of testicular torsion and epididymo-orchitis, and the limits of colour Doppler
- Escalate without delay, whatever the scan shows, when the clinical picture demands it
Lessons
- Context: help, never delay6 min
- The eye: safe technique10 min
- The eye: make it move12 min
- The scrotum: technique8 min
- Torsion or epididymo-orchitis: follow the cord14 min
- Cases10 min
- Final assessment: 12 questions, pass mark 80%7 min
Who it is for
Emergency, acute and urgent care doctors, advanced clinical practitioners and physician associates who assess eye and scrotal emergencies.
Your certificate
Pass the assessment and we email your certificate as a PDF: your name, the module, 1 hour of CPD, the date and a code anyone can check at thewavelength.co.uk/elearning/verify. Upload it to your e-portfolio with a short reflection. Wavelength issues the certificate itself. It is not accredited by an external body, so record the hours as self-directed CPD under your own college or regulator's rules. The certificate records completed learning. Sign-off to scan independently stays with your department.
About this module
Author. Dr Firas Abou-Auda, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Course Director, Wavelength.
Published. October 2026. Next review. October 2028.
Conflicts of interest. Dr Firas Abou-Auda is Course Director of Wavelength, which runs paid ultrasound courses.
References
- Lahham S, et al. Point-of-care ultrasonography in the diagnosis of retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, and vitreous detachment in the emergency department. JAMA Network Open. 2019;2:e192162.
- McDowall J, et al. The ultrasonographic whirlpool sign in testicular torsion: valuable tool or waste of valuable time? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Emergency Radiology. 2018.
- US Food and Drug Administration. Marketing clearance of diagnostic ultrasound systems and transducers (ophthalmic output limits).
- American College of Emergency Physicians. Ultrasound guidelines: emergency, point-of-care and clinical ultrasound guidelines in medicine. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2023.
- Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Point-of-care ultrasound appendix to the RCEM curriculum.