Schedule
Join us for a fully virtual conference hosted over Zoom, designed to bring together medical students from across the country. Open to all Canadian medical students—whether or not you’re participating in the case competition—this event is an opportunity to learn, connect, and engage with peers and experts in the field. Scroll below to learn more about our speakers.
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This year's theme: Breaking Barriers in UGME POCUS Education: Innovate to Educate
Saturday, October 25th, 2025
1:00 PM EST
Introduction & Welcome
Kick off the conference with a warm welcome from our organizing team and an overview of the day.
1:10 PM EST
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Gillian Sheppard
Press Start to Scan: Gamification in Ultrasound Education
We’re inviting a national leader in POCUS education to speak on the clinical relevance of POCUS, curricular challenges, and emerging advances in POCUS education, research, and clinical use.
1:40 PM EST
POCUS Case Competition
Watch student teams from across Canada pitch innovative solutions to tackle current challenges in undergraduate POCUS education.
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Teams will compete for the opportunity to have their ideas featured by SCPEC nationally & for support to bring their ideas to life
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Open to all Canadian medical students (teams of up to 4).
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Previous SCPEC grant winners will also present updates on their funded projects.
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Click here for the Case Competition rules and Judging Rubric.
3:00 PM EST
Interactive Workshops
(Breakout Rooms)
The timings of the workshops will be as follows:
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(3-3:30PM) Workshop A: Mentorship Speed Round – Connect with leading Canadian POCUS educators in rapid-fire Q&A rounds. Gain insights on clinical careers, leadership, research, and national advocacy.​
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(3:30-4PM) Workshop B: Crash Course to ED POCUS; Basic Approach & Cannot Miss Diagnoses. Learn high-yield POCUS scans every medical student should know in the Emergency Department, for clerkship, and beyond
4:00 - 4:30 PM EST
Conclusion
We’ll wrap up with the announcement of our top 3 grant competition winners. The winning teams will present their pitches, followed by closing remarks from the SCPEC Chair and Vice-Chairs—including a sneak peek at our post-conference initiatives.
Speakers
Keynote Speaker - Press Start to Scan: Gamification in Ultrasound Education
Gillian Sheppard
MD FCFP(EM) DRCPSC POCUS
Associate Professor and Chair of Emergency Medicine
Discipline of Emergency Medicine (Cross Appointed with Pediatrics)
Dr. Gillian Sheppard is an Associate Professor and the Chair of Emergency Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland with a cross appointment to the Discipline of Pediatrics. She practices Emergency Medicine in St. John’s, NL. Dr. Sheppard is the current Education Lead for the CAEP Emergency Ultrasound Committee and Chaired the International POCUS Games in Montreal in 2025. She is on faculty at the Rural Ultrasound Fellowship. Her research interests include point of care ultrasound, medical education, pediatric emergency medicine and equity, diversity and inclusion with a special interest in gender.
Workshop A: Mentorship Speed Round
Dan Kim
MD FRCPC
Clinical Associate Professor, POCUS Fellowship Director | Department of EM, UBC and Vancouver General Hospital
Dr. Kim is currently the POCUS fellowship director and a clinical associate professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of British Columbia and is a staff emergency physician at Vancouver General Hospital. He completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Toronto and his emergency ultrasound fellowship at Denver Health Medical Center. Dr. Kim is the chair of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Emergency Ultrasound Committee and is a decision editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. He has lectured nationally and internationally with a focus on emergency ultrasound and the evidence supporting its use. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers on POCUS and several textbook chapters.
Maya Harel-Sterling
MCDM, MScCH (HPTE), FRCPC
Director, PoCUS Program, The Hospital for Sick Children
Staff Physician, Paediatric EM
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Dr. Maya Harel-Sterling is a Paediatric Emergency Medicine physician and Director of the POCUS Program at the Hospital for Sick Children. She graduated from McGill University Medical school, completed her Paediatrics residency, PEM fellowship, and POCUS fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children. She completed a Master’s Program in Health Practitioner Teacher Education through the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She leads POCUS training initiatives for medical students as the POCUS Co-Lead in the MD Program, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and is involved in medical education research, especially as it relates to POCUS competency and integration of resuscitative ultrasound into simulation.
Michael Woo
MD, CCFP(EM), DRCPSC, CHE
Medical Director - Site Lead | Department of EM | Kemptville District Hospital
Medical Director - POCUS Program | The Ottawa Hospital
Emergency Physician and Trauma Team Leader | Department of EM | The Ottawa Hospital
Clinician Investigator | Acute Care Research | Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Professor | Department of EM | University of Ottawa
Dr. Michael Woo is an Emergency Physician and Trauma Team Leader at the Ottawa Hospital. He is the Medical Director for the ED at Kemptville District Hospital and the Medical Director for the Point of Care Ultrasonography (POCUS) Program at The Ottawa Hospital as well as a Professor at the University of Ottawa. He has been an advocate for POCUS for over 20 years and continues to be excited about the opportunities to innovate in Emergency Medicine and beyond.
Workshop B: Crash Course to ED POCUS; Basic Approach & Cannot Miss Diagnoses
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Kenneth Williams
MD, FRCPC (Emergency Medicine)
PGY3 FRCPC-EM UofT
Dr. Kenneth Williams is a PGY3 Emergency Medicine resident at the University of Toronto with a strong focus on point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) education, quality improvement, and clinical integration. He previously served on the CAEP National POCUS Committee and has extensive experience delivering interactive, case-based teaching to medical students and residents. At the Séguin Canadian POCUS Education Conference, Dr. Williams will present a practical approach to ED POCUS, highlighting common pitfalls and high-stakes, “can’t-miss” diagnoses to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient safety.
Case Competition Judges
Eadan Farber
ER PGY-1
University of Ottawa
Hayley Manlove
PGY-5 FRCPC EM Resident and POCUS Fellow
Queen's University
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Sam Buchanan
MD, CCFP (FM)
University of Ottawa
