The Beginnings
Professor Jakubowski: "In 1981 the first compound scanner Picker was purchased to
the Central Clinic Hospital in Warsaw and I was the first to start using it. After
initial experiments I and some other enthusiasts created a group of users of US imaging
and in 1983 we have established the Ultrasound Section of the Polish Radiological
Society. After 3 years of the activity of the Section the number of their members
was so large that we decided to start in 1990 a new organization – Polish Ultrasonic
Society PUS (in polish: Polskie Towarzystwo Ultrasonograficzne PTU)". PUS is a group
of physicians of twenty different medical specializations and is dedicated to scientific,
didactic and organization activity.
The Newsletter
PUS issues newsletters twice a year; in spring and in the fall. The Society is regularly
publishing books on US (since 1990 – 18 titles), quarterly Journal Ultrasonografia
(in polish). Every third year the special book, to the Standards in Ultrasonography
(in polish) is published. In July 2011 we will issue the fourth edition of Standards.
Courses & US Training
The Polish Society is providing continuous education organizing courses on three levels:
basic ultrasound physics, basic general ultrasound and post-graduate ultrasound for
different US specialisations.
The PUS provide or supervise different kind of courses. The "main stream" teaching
is provided in weekly courses organized by Ultrasonic School Roztocze-Zamosc (Roztoczanska
Szkola Ultrasonografii -Zamosc).
There are different levels of the courses: basic on general US – five days long; five
days long discipline – heart, Doppler, gastroenterology, musculoskeletal, superficial
organs (breast, thyroid), lungs, laryngology, obstetrics, gynaecology, general practice
medicine and more – oriented courses with extensive practical exercise on patients
; one day of physics and instrumentation; 2.5 days long advanced course and meet the
professor classes.
Each physician has to pass an exam before being certified to do ultrasound – the exam
goes in two parts, theoretical –about 70 multiple choice questions – and practical
examination is carried on in Ultrasonic School Roztocze-Zamosc.
Our Society includes only doctors – both radiologists and clinicians and research
scientists. We have no sonographers performing US examinations.
The National Congress in Poland
The national conference is held every second year. The previous one was in Cracow
in June 2010 and the next will be in Olsztyn in May, 2012.
The last, 10th Congress in Cracow was the jubilee one. It had a substantial attendance
of about 1000 participants. Twelve Scientific Sessions covered all the important disciplines
with 22 invited speakers. There were also 8 post graduate courses and 6 sessions organized
by manufactures of the US equipment.
Website
We do have a website http://www.usgptu.waw.pl, however, no educational material is included in our pages. We have, however, access
to the articles published in our quarterly journal "Ultrasonografia".
Ultrasound in Poland Today
Actually we have 1400 active members of PUS while an estimated number of physicians
performing US imaging exceeds 8000. In Poland we have about 87,000 active medical
doctors. We are very satisfied from the past cooperation with EFSUMB and hope to keep
it this way in the future.
