Schedule

*times listed are in Australian Eastern Standard Time please adjust for your local time zone. 

Speakers

Melissa Bownes-Perth Cardiovascular Institute
Melissa Bownes graduated from the University of South Australia in 2021 with a Chancellor's Letter of Commendation, an award that recognises the top 5% of all post graduate students. Prior to completing her Graduate Diploma of Medical Ultrasound she also completed a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science and a Graduate Diploma of Clinical Exercise Physiology. She worked as a cardiac technologist for 6 years before commencing her Echocardiography placement with Perth Cardiovascular Institute, where she is currently employed full time. She is passionate about valvular pathology, specifically aortic stenosis and transcatheter aortic valve replacements.

Julia Leahy-Perth Cardiovascular Institute
Julia is a cardiac sonographer at Perth Cardiovascular Institute in Western Australia. She is a recent graduate from the University of South Australia, and is passionate about her involvement in continued echocardiography education for students and fellow professionals beyond tertiary study.

Kate Marriott- Queensland University of Technology
B App Sci, MAppSc(Cardiac Ultrasound), AMS, FASE
Kate Marriott is a lecturer for the Graduate Diploma in Cardiac Ultrasound course at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and is a senior Cardiac Sonographer at Hearts 1st Brisbane. She has a Masters degree in Cardiac Ultrasound with over 18 years of experience as a cardiac sonographer.  Her main areas of interest are contrast echocardiography (both agitated saline and commercial UEAs) and sonographer training and education.

Kim Prince- CQU
B Hlth Sc, M Clin Phys DMU Cardiac. 
Kim is passionate about heart health and heart education for the community as well as for up-and-coming sonographers. 
With over 20 years experience in cardiac physiology and sonography, along with overseas experience while working in the UK, she has also worked in both private and public sectors in Australia. 
Kim has been training and educating cardiac sonographers for over 10 years and is now a lecturer in Cardiac Ultrasound at CQ University. 
Specialties include stress echocardiography, adult echocardiography and education.

Kate Sturwohld- The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane
Kate Sturwohld is a Clinical Measurements Consultant -  Echo, The Prince Charles Hospital and a casual Academic Lecturer at CQUniversity. She has over 20 years experience in echocardiography and completed the DMU(cardiac) in 2001 at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane.  Since then, has worked in a range of clinical settings including major tertiary referral centres, regional hospitals and private practice in regional Queensland, Brisbane and Sydney. Until recently Kate was an integral part of the teaching faculty in the Bachelor of Cardiac Physiology and Echocardiography, PG Diploma Echocardiography at CQUniversity. Kate is passionate about education and quality in echocardiography.

Chrissy Thomson BSc, DMU (Cardiac), FASE, AMS
Chrissy is a cardiac sonographer with 20 years’ clinical experience. She is also a Sessional Academic and the previous Course Coordinator for the QUT Graduate Diploma in Cardiac Ultrasound. Chrissy is a Fellow of the American Society of Echo and a member of the Australasian Sonographers Association Special Interest Group (Cardiac). She is passionate about guidelines-based education and sonographer training and loves talking ‘all things echo!’

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