Central Venous Access

Emergency medicine and critical care

Video course

by Franz Wiesbauer, MD MPH, Siamak Moayedi, MD, and Sara Damewood, MD

Take the guesswork out of central line placement! This course empowers you to master both landmark and ultrasound-guided techniques, reduce complications, and ensure safer, more efficient procedures. You’ll learn to confidently choose the right access site, interpret ultrasound images and artifacts, and insert needles with precision—across internal jugular, subclavian, and femoral approaches.

1 CME

1h 1m 42s

2 Quizzes

What’s in it for you?

Master the most important skills

Learn the skills experts say you need to master in order to become a great clinician.

Learn any skill in under 5 hours

All our award-winning courses can be completed in less than 5 hours. Most take less than 4!

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Learn wherever and whenever you want. Save on expensive courses, travel, and time away from family and friends.

After completing this course, you will be able to

Determine anatomical landmarks for central venous catheter placement using both ultrasound and landmark-guided techniques
Demonstrate safe central line insertion via internal jugular, subclavian, and femoral approaches using anatomic landmarks
Discriminate between normal and artifact-induced ultrasound images that can impact the accuracy of vascular access
Execute both in-plane and out-of-plane ultrasound-guided needle insertion techniques
Acquire and interpret ultrasound images in sagittal and transverse planes to guide central venous access
Master sterile technique when using an ultrasound transducer during central line placement

What's inside

Free

Chapter 1

Kick-off

Test your knowledge!

1 Lesson

Central Venous Access Kick-off

Quiz

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Chapter 2

Key anatomy and skills for placing a central line

Learn exactly when and how to insert a central line—landmarks, tools, and wire handling, plus the techniques that make or break your success.

12 Lessons

30m 9s

Key anatomy and skills for placing a central line intro

33s

Assessing the need for central venous access

3m 33s

Identifying the tools

2m 25s

Recognizing the landmarks

4m 16s

Mastering the microskills

1m 45s

Placing a central venous line

1m 58s

Flushing and securing

2m 12s

Maximizing the chance of success

4m 54s

Placing an Easy IJ

4m 3s

Putting it all together—central line

3m 13s

Putting it all together—Easy IJ

1m 17s

Key anatomy and skills for placing a central line quiz

Quiz

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Chapter 3

Ultrasound-guided central venous access

Master the use of ultrasound for central line placement—know what you’re seeing, how to guide the needle, and how to stay clear of structures you can’t afford to hit.

9 Lessons

31m 33s

Ultrasound-guided central venous access intro

28s

Differentiating between arteries and veins

5m 1s

Imaging the lateral neck

7m 25s

Imaging the anterior upper chest

6m 25s

Mastering ultrasound of the groin

3m 32s

Mastering ultrasound guidance for central line placement

5m 25s

Avoiding common complications

2m 41s

Ultrasound-guided central venous access quiz

Quiz

Central Venous Access outro

36s

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Free

Chapter 4

Mastery

Test your knowledge again!

1 Lesson

Central Venous Access

Quiz

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Teachers of this course

Franz Wiesbauer, MD MPH

Franz is the founder and CEO of Medmastery. He is an internist with a specialization in cardiology and a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University.

Teacher profile

Siamak Moayedi, MD

Professor and Director of Medical Student Education, University of Maryland and Course Director, Essential and Critical Procedures, Emergency Medicine.

Teacher profile

Sara Damewood, MD

Sara is the Vice Chair of Education and Division Chief of Emergency Ultrasound at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health's Department of Emergency Medicine.

Teacher profile

Medmastery

Nora Drenaline

Emergency medicine and critical care

Claim your certificate

All members receive a certificate for completing this course. For Pro members, the certificate comes with 1 CME credits.

CME accredited

Most of our courses and workshops are certified for USA and European continuing medical education (CME) credits. Pro members can download their CME certificates upon successful completion of activities. Want to transfer these credits to your national system? No problem.

Learn how this works

CME at its best

Award-winning teaching method

Winner of the Comenius EduMedia Medal
For outstanding digital education—Berlin 2013
Highly commended by the British Medical Association
Awarded in the digital category of the BMA Book Awards—London 2017
Winner of the Comenius EduMedia Seal
For outstanding digital education—Berlin 2017
Internationally accredited
CME accredited in the USA and EU with mutual recognition agreements in most other countries.
Trusted institutional partner
Used by residency programs and universities around the world to train their clinicians and students.
Top-rated by our learners
Rated excellent by hundreds of users on Trustpilot, an independent reviewing platform.

What’s in it for you?

Master the most important skills

Learn any skill in under 5 hours

Save time and money

After completing this course, you will be able to

Get started now!

What's inside

Kick-off

Key anatomy and skills for placing a central line

Ultrasound-guided central venous access

Mastery

Claim your certificate

CME accredited

Winner of the Comenius EduMedia Medal

Highly commended by the British Medical Association

Winner of the Comenius EduMedia Seal

Internationally accredited

Trusted institutional partner

Top-rated by our learners