Dr. Mena Ramos’ path into Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) was neither linear nor accidental. It emerged organically from her frontline experiences in medicine, both locally and globally, where she consistently saw the divide between medical potential and reality. From early on, she was captivated not just by the science of medicine but by its human element—how and where it reaches people, and more often, where it doesn’t.
A Vision for Equitable Healthcare Through Point-of-Care Ultrasound
Her first real introduction to POCUS occurred during her residency, where she witnessed its immediate utility in emergency care. “You could take one look and change the whole course of a diagnosis,” she once remarked. The precision, portability, and real-time nature of ultrasound opened her eyes to what she called “medicine in motion”—diagnosis and decision-making that meets the patient exactly where they are. But it wasn’t until she stepped into global health work that POCUS took on a far greater meaning.
While working in rural and underserved regions—across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia—Dr. Ramos encountered countless barriers to care. Imaging, often taken for granted in developed nations, was a rare luxury in these settings. Something as simple as diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy, a pleural effusion, or a gallbladder issue became life-threatening without the appropriate tools. For her, this wasn’t just a clinical gap—it was a systemic failure.
What struck her most profoundly was how POCUS could level the playing field. Unlike MRI or CT, ultrasound required no massive infrastructure, and with handheld devices becoming increasingly affordable and easy to use, the technology held promise for revolutionizing diagnostic care in low-resource settings. It was this potential—of democratizing access to accurate, fast, and safe imaging—that turned her professional interest into a mission.
Dr. Ramos became an active proponent of teaching POCUS as a skill, not just a tool. She emphasized the importance of building local capacity, rather than creating dependency on external aid. In the communities she served, she often ran hands-on workshops for local clinicians, nurses, and midwives—many of whom had never seen an ultrasound machine before. By training them directly, she empowered them to perform high-stakes assessments in real time, reducing diagnostic delays and unnecessary referrals.
Beyond the clinical benefits, she saw POCUS as a form of health equity. It closed the gap between urban hospitals and rural clinics. It allowed maternal care in villages without obstetricians. It supported trauma triage in conflict zones and disaster relief areas. In her view, ultrasound was more than technology—it was a translator, a bridge, a voice for patients whose symptoms might otherwise go unheard.
Her work has also involved collaborating with global health organizations and academic institutions to expand ultrasound training curricula. She has spoken on international panels and participated in multi-center research focused on improving ultrasound accessibility. Dr. Ramos continues to advocate for the integration of POCUS into primary care, emergency response, and even community health worker protocols—pushing for a broader redefinition of who gets to use advanced diagnostic tools.
In her current practice, Dr. Ramos blends clinical care with outreach, mentorship, and education. She champions interdisciplinary efforts to scale up training and encourages medical students to think beyond hospital walls. "POCUS reminds us that healthcare doesn't have to be centralized to be effective," she says. "It can—and should—travel to where it's needed most."
Dr. Ramos’s story is one of innovation rooted in empathy, and of science in service to equity. Through her work, she’s helping to shape a future where no patient is invisible due to their location, and where frontline care is empowered by information, not restricted by geography.
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AIUM 2025: POCUS EDUCATIONAL POWER-DUO TAKES ON GLOBAL IMAGING & DIVERSITY
Dr. Ramos has been a global champion for Point of Care Ultrasound adoption across the continuum of care with a particular emphasis in primary care and global health. Partnering with medical imaging heavyweight like Dr. Robert Bard at the 2025 AIUM Conference was a landmark experience for both educators. This "power-collab" stylishly combined their unique perspectives (from generations apart) to deliver a compelling chorus of a worldly showcase on "Advances in Portable Imaging & POCUS in the Evaluation of Breast and Liver Disease".
Both leaders found many common views about ultrasound imaging- including the status of the current global state of health and the future of non-invasive diagnostics. Since the early 70's, Dr. Bard paved his avenue with exploratory research, committing to the movement by collaborating with global colleagues. He based a practice on pushing the boundaries of ultrasound in areas like cancer, chronic disorders and some of the most challenging pathologies. Dr. Ramos, a family physician took point of care ultrasound onto the international stage (with the support of the W.H.O.) by bringing education and access to POCUS in resource-limited settings throughout underserved areas of the world. Together, their mission to drive the ultrasound movement, its benefits to the community and its appeal to just about ANY economic platform rang louder than ever, with both crusaders on the mic.
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| Courtesy of GUSI- Global Ultrasound Institute |
"If this presentation was packaged for future events, it certainly brought new life to CME's and industry conferences everywhere", said Marilyn Abrahamson, editor of the upcoming BARD/RAMOS video series. "As a musician, I am reminded of every duet like Simon and Garfunkel or Tony Bennet and everyone else. Their differences in look, voice and vibe was so enjoyable that it relayed the absolute message of globalism and diversity in its most classic sense!"
Brainstorming this unique presentation format was a process (itself) worth documenting. "I have never been more impressed at the vision and energy that Mena (Ramos) had established from start to finish of the program", stated Dr. Bard. "From our first chat about 'a new kind of presentation', we were completely taken by her vision to re-invent the format. It sounded like so much fun and yet there was a powerful strategy to the harmony. By having 2 speakers working the podium this way in a medical convention was completely unheard of... this idea of a reverse Q&A (much like a multi-host talk show) was never part of the conference tradition of this size. You couldn't have two speakers more synchronized and yet we touched into areas that were so vastly different... in the end, we covered great ground far better than any one speaker would care to attempt on a stage like this!"
Both doctors admitted that the AIUM presentation was a pilot for a much larger educational summit between them and other future speakers. Dr. Bard and his program director Dr. Lennard Gettz is underway mapping more duo-speakerships in 2025 including webinars and podcasts - pursuing that discussion-style energy that he first experienced at the AIUM conference with Dr. Ramos.
