Neil J. Weissman, MD, FASE

Enthusiastic cheers, intense warnings, and heartfelt laughter. I was curious. It was a school night and my son was up in his room by himself, but clearly having a good time. I walked into the dark room. There was a glow coming from his desk and there he was, sitting in front of the computer with his headset on his ears, the handless microphone in front of his face, both hands flying over the keyboard, and the largest and most complicated mouse I ever saw in my life. He easily could have been at the command post of a new high-tech control center let alone for his excitement and yells which were clearly that of a 12-year-old boy.

“David, what is going on?” I asked. “Playing with my friends.” A simple answer, but one that has taken me a while to get used to. I looked around his empty room and immediately realized he meant that his friends were online, and he was virtually playing with them. “Oh, but what’s all the excitement?” Well, uncharacteristically, he actually turned and looked at me, took his headphones off (well, off one ear so he can talk to me while still listening to his friends) and went on to tell me about this new, great game they discovered. He told me how it was just released that week and how it had a dynamic nature that “learned” from the player as the player learned moves and strategies in the game.

I smiled, knowing he was having a good time and glad that he and his friends were interested in learning new things, even if they were gaming techniques. As I sat down later that night to work on a talk I was giving at a large cardiology conference held each fall, I thought about how less and less people attend this conference. During my fellowship, to give a talk at this international scientific session could be a highlight of one’s career but now, I wondered if there would even be 20 people in the room. My son’s generation certainly will not “go somewhere” to learn something new. In fact, new in their mind means it is days or weeks old, not months and he is already asking me questions about why people bother traveling just to sit in a room together when they can do the meeting online.

As President of ASE, one of the things I have become acutely aware of is how quickly the world is changing and how we need to continue to adapt and lead that change in cardiovascular ultrasound. The other thing I learned is, despite being very actively involved in ASE for over 20 years, including having some type of leadership position for over ten years, I had no clue about all the different things ASE is doing. One of those areas I was not fully aware of until recently is how far along ASEUniversity has come.

ASEUniversity ( www.ASEUniversity.org ) is ASE’s online educational platform, which is a remarkable resource of material. At this site, you will find a broad variety of self-study learning opportunities taught by experts in a variety of formats; including recorded conference lectures, live webinars, articles, and more. The digital library provides access to searchable content at any time through your computer or mobile device. Content covers the full spectrum of cardiovascular ultrasound, from basic to advanced, focused cardiac ultrasound to complete echocardiograms. ASEUniversity is designed for anyone interested in cardiovascular ultrasound, from the seasoned professional to those just starting out.

The other thing I discovered was that ASEUniversity has echo-specific maintenance of certification (MOC) modules available by selecting “Courses” from the ASEUniversity navigation menu. This is becoming increasingly important and supplements the already robust collection of CME activities. The ASE education team works to add around 14 new CME activities each year, to ensure a rich offering of content and topics. While some of the activities and MOC have a cost, ASEUniversity currently houses approximately 20 free activities (for ASE members) in both article and webinar formats.

The newest addition to ASE’s online course offerings is the series of live, guideline-based Webinars. These activities present an opportunity for members to network with peers and ask the presenters, typically the lead authors on ASE’s guidelines, questions at the end of the presentation. These events have escalated in popularity since they were launched by ASE in 2012 and have become one of ASE’s most talked about educational formats, drawing 500-700 registrants for each lecture.

So, as someone who goes to scientific conferences and enjoys the interaction with colleagues (but who also has a son who is very content to interact with his friends and learn new techniques online), I am very pleased that ASE continues to develop its ‘live’ courses while simultaneously growing its virtual learning environment. Something for everyone!

If you haven’t checked out ASEUniversity ( www.ASEUniversity.org ) recently, I think you will be very pleasantly surprised. Happy virtual learning!