When a person works in healthcare, the automatic assumption of most people is that you work in a hospital or clinic. However, this is not always the case. Healthcare providers work in a variety of settings – from clinical set-ups to BPOs (business process outsourcers) to research. Research goes hand-in-hand with clinical experience. Sometimes a sonographer needs to go out in the field to get information regarding a particular study. With more than 50,000 sonographers working in the US today, you can’t expect all of them to be working in just hospitals.
The hospital myth
When you say you’re a nurse, doctor, or sonographer, the most common assumption about your workplace is that it’s hospital. Sometimes people will guess that you work in a physician’s office or have your own consultation practice. This “myth” is typically propagated by the media – where healthcare workers are shown working on day-to-day basis in a clinical setting.
But when you really think about it, patient rooms and surgical units are not the only places in a hospital. There are administrative offices and human resource departments – and most definitely areas and laboratories for research. A hospital usually sponsors a number of studies per year, with healthcare providers submitting proposals to a research division for approval and revisions.
But when you really think about it, patient rooms and surgical units are not the only places in a hospital. There are administrative offices and human resource departments – and most definitely areas and laboratories for research. A hospital usually sponsors a number of studies per year, with healthcare providers submitting proposals to a research division for approval and revisions.
Health Services Research
The area of healthcare research is called Health Services Research. The information from a study is constantly changing and improving healthcare. These researches study about access, costs, technology, professional conduct, skills, techniques and ethics, and the factors that affect them and the care that is given to patients in and out of the community. All of these studies are done to improve patient care and outcomes. These things can be found especially in a sonographer’s working environment that deals with patients and different cases every day.
Sonographers in research
An even rarer assumption is a sonographer who works in research. In the case that a healthcare worker practices in a research-related occupation, he or she is usually a medical doctor or a graduate of a similar science under or post-graduate program. Sonographers aren’t rare when it comes to research-related positions – they’re just not people usually think of when it comes to research. When you study ultrasound technician courses, you will be introduced to different areas of study you can practice in.
There is thousands of research in healthcare started in a single year, with some taking months and even years to be complete and reviewed. Sonography is one of the most popular diagnostic tools in healthcare today, because of its non-invasive and relatively safe characteristics. Compared to other diagnostic procedures such as MRIs and X-rays, sonography doesn’t use any form of radiation, making it a very popular choice when diagnosing people who are immunocompromised or pregnant.
There is thousands of research in healthcare started in a single year, with some taking months and even years to be complete and reviewed. Sonography is one of the most popular diagnostic tools in healthcare today, because of its non-invasive and relatively safe characteristics. Compared to other diagnostic procedures such as MRIs and X-rays, sonography doesn’t use any form of radiation, making it a very popular choice when diagnosing people who are immunocompromised or pregnant.
Becoming a sonographer in research
Studying sonography starts with enrolling in a Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) program. In the United States alone, the Commission on Accreditation for Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) has accredited 211 schools in 2014. These schools have the best sonography training to offer students, producing sonographers who are prepared to take the ARDMS examination and pass with flying colors. The ARDMS exam is a certification test for sonographers, a requirement requested by almost all employers and workplaces for sonography.
If you plan on starting a career in research, there are many organizations, companies, and health institutions that focus on studying health, improving patient care, and adding to the database of knowledge in sonography. Just because research isn’t a common avenue that you think of when working as a healthcare provider or professional, that doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself to working in a clinical area.
If you plan on starting a career in research, there are many organizations, companies, and health institutions that focus on studying health, improving patient care, and adding to the database of knowledge in sonography. Just because research isn’t a common avenue that you think of when working as a healthcare provider or professional, that doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself to working in a clinical area.