Margaret Corbett, RDCS, RDMS, RVT

Hello. My name is Margaret Corbett and I am the author and course instructor for the Burwin Institute correspondence courses in cardiovascular principles and fetal, pediatric and adult echocardiography. My courses are primarily intended to cover the material required to pass the American Registry Of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) or Cardiovascular Credentialling International (CCI) examinations in these subject areas.

I have worked in ultrasound since 1983 and hold ARDMS registration in Adult, Pediatric and Fetal Echocardiography as well as Abdomen, Ob/Gyn, Ophthalmology and Vascular Technology. I am presently employed full time as Supervisor and Clinical Instructor in a busy private practice. My teaching experience began in 1979 in Radiography.

My introduction to teaching through correspondence was through a series of courses in Quality Control which I wrote for the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists. My past experience also includes the presentation of registry preparation seminars in adult echocardiography in various cities in the United States and I have also taught courses in echocardiography at a local community college. I have been with the Burwin Institute since 1992.

Hello, and welcome to The Burwin Institute. It is my hope to share my extensive knowledge and clinical experience in diagnostic ultrasound with you as a Burwin correspondence course student.

I had the opportunity to learn ultrasound when the technology was in its infancy and have experienced its clinical growth and medical value worldwide. I have been an ultrasound educator for over 25 years in different roles including clinical instructor, faculty, program coordinator, seminar lecturer, and course, journal and textbook author. I currently author or coauthor the Burwin courses in Introduction to Ultrasound, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Practical Doppler.

Professionally, I have volunteered on the boards or committees of several bodies including the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers, Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Canadian Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers, and the Canadian Medical Association.

Since the inception of The Burwin Institute in 1985 I have had the pleasure of helping hundreds of correspondence course students learn ultrasound physics, instrumentation, and various clinical applications. It’s a great feeling to see students do well in a course and pass a registry examination and be told, "Denis, I would never have done it without you". I am confident this will be true of your experience when you register in one of the Burwin courses.

Welcome to The Burwin Institute diagnostic ultrasound correspondence courses! Let me tell you a little bit about my ultrasound background.

I have been involved in the field of Diagnostic Ultrasound since 1976. As a student, I sat amazed during the first ultrasound course I attended in 1975 and I knew then that this area of imaging was going to go far and advance quickly.

Imagine starting your career with a bi-stable B-scanner (affectionately known as the salami slicer), only to progress to high resolution real-time color flow Doppler imaging a few years later! I'm sure that as the future unfolds, we will witness even more exciting changes.

I began training students in the ultrasound lab at McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario in 1981 and continued teaching students in a private imaging facility in Windsor, Ontario for the Mohawk College Ultrasound program.

I have been teaching vascular courses with The Burwin Institute since 1990 and I'm proud to be part of the Burwin team.

I am currently the team leader of the Ultrasound Department of Tauranga Public Hospital in New Zealand, teaching and performing a broad range of ultrasound examinations on the other side of the world. I hope you enjoy my courses!

Hello, and welcome to the Burwin Institute! I currently author the Physics and Instrumentation and Cardiovascular Principles and Instrumentation courses.

I have been teaching ultrasound both since 1990. Currently, I am the Program Coordinator for the sonographer training program at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I truly enjoy my job, especially the challenge of teaching Physics and Instrumentation. I am well aware that the mere mention of the word "physics" causes many students to panic. But I truly believe physics can be fun, understandable, and most importantly, is relevant to daily clinical practice. If you can approach physics with an open mind, I know you will surprise yourself.

It would be my pleasure to provide you with help and instruction through these correspondence courses.

Merle McCann, BA, RT(R), ACR, RDMS, RDCS

Hello. Welcome to the Burwin Institute! I am the course author and teacher for the Burwin Abdominal Sonography and Neurosonography courses.

My teaching career began in Radiography in 1973 and expanded into Ultrasound in 1984. I have taught my specialty areas to full-time college students, to graduate students preparing for their Registry examinations and to sonographers and physicians who wished to upgrade their knowledge in these areas.

I sincerely hope upon completion of these courses you will have a similar experience to Kathy T. from PA who wrote : "I wanted to thank you so much for the information given to me through your course made the examination so much easier. I learned so much more than I had ever hoped to, and, although some areas were difficult for me to comprehend, I am a much better sonographer today . . . I will be forever grateful that I found out about your courses . . . I felt so well prepared for the examination, and, my grade (87.5%) reflected my knowledge."

I have been performing and teaching Ultrasound exams since 1998.

I am currently employed as a senior sonographer at a busy regional hospital. I am actively involved in the clinical training of students in the provincial sonographer training program during their clinical rotation at our facility. I enjoy the enthusiasm of students and find it personally satisfying sharing my knowledge and clinical expertise with them.

Ultrasound is truly an interesting and unique imaging modality. As a student it requires patience, knowledge and perseverance. I hope that you enjoy the course. Good luck in your future endeavors.