About Our Consortium
Windward Ultrasound is dedicated to promoting high-quality education and guidance in Point-of-Care Ultrasound and Emergency Medicine, with a focus on serving nations and regions outside the United States through partnerships with academic institutions and healthcare providers.
Origin Story
Drs. Lisa Charles and
Rolando Valenzuela
Drs. Michael Secko and
Lindsay Evans
Our first Ultrasound Courses on St. Lucia started in the fall of 2017 when the Ultrasound and International Divisions at Stony Brook University Hospital received an invitation to teach on the island by Dr. Lisa Charles. Dr. Charles trained at Harbor-UCLA and returned to her native Saint Lucia as the first Emergency Medicine-trained physician on the island. She became the first Head of Accident and Emergency (A&E) and served as Medical Director of Victoria Hospital in the northern city of Castries. Dr. Charles has been instrumental in transforming the A&E and healthcare delivery by focusing on high yield improvements in resource limited environments. She introduced new standard clinical practices including point-of-care ultrasound to hospitals across the island.​
The first course directors were ultrasound faculty colleagues at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York. We collaborated with the International Division and Dr. Charles to organize the first ultrasound course in 2017 with the goal of training St Lucian physicians at Victoria Hospital in Castries. We share the conviction that the portable, durable, and affordable point-of-care ultrasound is an ideal imaging tool for resource-limited environments and makes a true impact on quality of patient care in the Caribbean islands. Our first year on St Lucia, we had over 90 participants, which included physicians and surgeons from a variety of specialties seeking to improve their point-of-care ultrasound skills.
Since 2017, the Ultrasound Course has expanded to 4 Saint Lucian hospitals, including the Owen King EU Hospital, Tapion, Victoria, and Saint Jude. In 2023, we added Dominica as a second Caribbean site. In 2024, we took our courses out to more rural primary care clinics and established relationships with local physician District Medical Officers (DMOs). While the course participants benefit from scanning their own patients, our teams of faculty, fellows, APPs, and residents simultaneously learn from the experienced local physicians. We teach a sustainable skill that contributes to real-time diagnosis and management of patients on the island. In turn, we gain unique perspective on resource-limited healthcare delivery.
Board of Directors & Officers
Our dedicated team includes Ultrasound and Emergency Medicine Leaders from a variety of clinical practices and academic institutions across the United States and Caribbean. Credentials include board certifications in Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Advanced Emergency Ultrasound, Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, and Masters of Public Health
