Sonography is not a one-way street, as with other healthcare occupations. Sonographers can specialize in a number of areas, typically depending on the age group of the patient or the area of the body where sonography is performed. Specialty is one of the factors that affect your career as a sonographer, especially salary (click here for more details).
The Diagnostic Medical Sonography program
Sonography is a procedure that uses a machine called a sonogram to send sound waves through the body and create images from its internal structures – all non-invasively. Healthcare providers who are able to use a sonogram and analyze the images from it are called sonographers. Sonography programs are commonly called DMS programs by colleges and universities all over the country.
There are four main categories for ultrasound tech programs: general, cardiac, vascular, and pediatric cardiac. Students can enroll in a certificate program that runs for 12 months, an associate degree program that runs for 2 years, or a bachelor degree program that runs for 4 years from an accredited school.
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The ARDMS examinations give certification for the general practice of sonography, as well as for sonography specialties. Sonographers who will finish their training in 2014 will need to take exams to become a certified sonographer, the SPI (Sonography Principles and Instrumentation) exam and a specialty exam.
General sonography
Sonography tech programs in general sonography actually cover different specialties depending the school that offer them. Because CAAHEP only recognizes four kinds of sonography training programs, the most commonly sonographed areas of the body are studied in a general specialization. General sonography teaches trainees how to sonogram the abdomen and reproductive organs – abdominal sonography and obstetrics and gynecologic sonography.
Cardiac sonography
Cardiac sonography refers to an ultrasound technology procedure done on the heart. Cardiac sonography is one of the best paid sonography specialties because the training to become a cardiac sonographer is quite difficult. Unlike abdominal organs and reproductive organs with big surface areas and are easily seen in a sonogram, the heart is small, moving, and hard to get a definite picture of.
This program can be referred to as cardiac sonography or echocardiography. It covers giving a sonogram through different ways, such as transesophageal and transthoracic, and stress echocardiograms. Cardiac sonography programs usually cover both adult and pediatric patients, with an introduction to fetal echocardiography. |
Vascular sonography
Vascular sonography is a procedure done on the arteries and veins in different parts of the body, usually the extremities and the abdomen. This specialty is quite complex, using smaller equipment such as dopplers to examine the blood vessels of the body. Dopplers work the same way as bigger sonogram machines, but the transducer is usually much smaller for the former. If you’re familiar with obstetric and gynecologic diagnostic procedures performed on pregnant women, you will see that a Doppler is also used to check the heart rate and rhythm of the fetus.
Pediatric cardiac sonography
While cardiac sonography includes a pediatric portion in the training, sonographers who want to specialize in pediatric cardiac sonography will be better offer training in a separate program. Handling pediatric patients are very different from adults, especially since their bodies and organ systems are much smaller and immature, especially their cardiac system. Sonographers will have to consider what their strengths are in order to choose the right specialty for them.
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