Aspire UCS

Angie trained as a Diagnostic Radiographer in the late 1980s. She started her ultrasound journey in West Sussex in the early 1990s, having not long since qualified as a radiographer in Plymouth, Devon. From there she moved to Wales, on to London and then back to Wales again; with each move she left behind a trail of confident, competent ultrasound practitioners across a wide range of specialities (sonographers, doctors, midwives, nurses, aortic screeners). Angie worked in numerous NHS hospitals across the UK, helping to set up ultrasound services, working her way up to management level, becoming a clinical ultrasound tutor and part-time lecturer for numerous CASE accredited ultrasound programmes. Several decades later she met Julie and after much persuasion, Angie finally took the plunge to leave the NHS and work with Julie as her ‘Head of Ultrasound’ for a UK wide imaging company, further enriching her business and clinical management skills. Four years on and Angie left the company to diversify into small animal ultrasound at specialist level. She soon realised the considerable difficulties faced by primary care vets in particular when training in ultrasound and set upon her mission to make a difference! She is especially passionate about quality, standards and competency-based learning. Covid-19 lockdown gave Julie and Angie the perfect opportunity to write some professional guidelines for small animal abdominal ultrasound. The British Medical Ultrasound Society (BMUS) published 'Small Animal Veterinary Guidelines for Professional Ultrasound Practice' in December 2022 and these have been endorsed by the ECVDI and IVUSS.

Leslie is a registered Ultrasound/X-ray Technologist of 30 years in the human world! She graduated from Gannon University in Erie, PA with a degree in Radiology and continued with her diagnostic ultrasound training at Western School in Pittsburgh, PA. Six years ago, Leslie took on the challenge of changing direction in her medical career after the opportunity arose to work with a great group of veterinary professionals learning veterinary ultrasound. This exciting turn of events enabled Leslie to share her extensive diagnostic medical ultrasound experience with veterinary profession, to challenge herself and learn a new skill. Leslie's first veterinary post in 2018 was at Rossmoyne Emergency Animal Treatment Center. In December 2021 she started work at Carlisle Small Animal Center as a veterinary sonographer until January 2023 when she began working at Happy Valley Animal Hospital Boalsburg, PA as a PRN sonographer. Leslie's duties included preforming small animal diagnostic ultrasound as well as teaching veterinary clinicians to feel more comfortable preforming ultrasound examinations solo. Leslie has also worked part time at Atlantic Veterinary Internal Medicine & Oncology Hunt Valley, MD and Columbia as a key sonographer and a successful clinical instructor teaching students how to perform standardised high-quality diagnostic ultrasounds which can subsequently be interpreted by veterinary imaging specialists. Leslie is a great advocate for Aspire UCS and is also passionate about promoting ultrasound as an invaluable clinical tool in veterinary medicine. Her goal for the future is to share her knowledge and educate veterinary ultrasound practitioners on how to use ultrasound at a higher standard within in their practice.

Julie trained and worked as a Radiographer in North West England in the early 1980s and moved to North Wales in 1987. She started her ultrasound training in the NHS in 1988 and after qualifying went to night school to train to be a teacher so that she could share the love she had developed for ultrasound in the best possible way. In 1995 Julie set up an ultrasound scanning company providing diagnostic scans to both NHS and self pay patients in GP surgeries and clinics. Despite the negativity from many in the imaging community who believed that non medics could not and should not be providing ultrasound services Julie continued to extol the virtues of providing ‘care closer to home’. Speaking at conferences she often faced accusations of working outside her scope of practice but nothing could be further from the truth. With time she worked with some amazing Radiologists who understood the business model and were huge advocates of what she was doing and provided support and guidance. The business grew and grew and following a merger with another provider in 2013 and subsequent ‘buy out’ by venture capitalists, in 2020, Julie was ready for another challenge. By this time, Angie had been working in a small animal specialist hospital for some years and persuaded Julie to join Aspire UCS and work with her providing ultrasound services and teaching vets, vet nurses (as well as human medics) the joy of ultrasound. Covid-19 lockdown gave Julie and Angie the perfect opportunity to collaborate and write some professional guidelines for small animal abdominal ultrasound. The 'Small Animal Veterinary Guidelines for Professional Ultrasound Practice' were published by British Medical Ultrasound Society in December 2022, and have been endorsed by the ECVDI and IVUSS.