An exciting new course is under development to address an important educational gap and create a program relevant to the Canadian radiology environment.

The CAR’s Continuing Professional Development Committee recently established the Pan-Canadian ARLS Course Working Group with the mandate of developing an Advanced Radiology Life Support (ARLS) online course, slated to release on the CAR Member Portal in June 2027.

The creation of the working group and subsequent course development was a direct response to the life support requirements at Canadian universities. Most institutions require this training which is offered from institutions like the Red Cross and the Mayo Clinic, whose programs are not always aligned to the Canadian context.

“Training for ARLS is currently very heterogeneous across radiology residency programs in Canada, ranging from no training at all to a few sessions throughout residency,” said Dr. Rui Ning Gong, Past-Chair of the Resident and Fellow Section (RFS). “On top of that, trainees sometimes receive different protocols from different training sites, which can add confusion in an acute setting.”

The CAR’s ARLS course will  aim to provide training using current Canadian guidelines, terminology, drug nomenclature, and standards of clinical practice that reflect the Canadian health care system.

Dr. Gong says there is a clear demand for training in our national context.

“An up-to-date, Canadian-specific course would give trainees readily available, standardized training that complies with the latest national guidelines and recommendations and enables them to more readily and efficiently manage acute situations.”

The course will also address existing variability in emergency preparedness training across institutions. An established, Canadian-based ARLS framework will support high-quality patient care, improve after-hours contrast coverage capabilities, and prepare radiologists for evolving practice requirements across a variety of workplace settings.

The course will be comprised of four distinct lessons, each guided by an expert faculty member. Topics will cover:

Stay tuned for more information as the course develops over the next year.