By becoming a sonographer, you will utilize diagnostic imaging technology that provides physicians and nurses with non-invasive ways of examining patients’ internal organs. The most well-known type of imaging is the X-ray; however, radiation can be harmful to patients in some cases. Sonography is one of the options a doctor has to conduct safer diagnostic imaging. Sonography uses sound waves, rather than radiation, to create these images.
As a sonographer, you will use this special sound wave equipment, which reflects echoes that are sent back to the machine to form images of various areas of patients’ bodies.
Job:
You will be responsible for recording patients’ medical histories, explaining procedures to patients, spreading gel onto the patients’ skin (this helps to aid the transmission of the sound waves), and use a “transducer” to transmit the sound waves. The image that the sound waves create needs to be closely examined by the sonographer in order to identify potentially unhealthy areas. You will analyze the images and then present them to the physician along with your initial findings.
Sonographers commonly work in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, but sonography is used for a variety of other purposes including:
- Abdominal sonography (liver, kidneys and other abdominal organs)
- Breast sonography (breast cancer and other problems)
- Cardiac sonography (heart)
- Neurosonography (brain and nervous system)
Salary:
An average annual salary for a sonographer is approximately $62,000. Most in the U.S. will earn somewhere between $52,500 and $74,000. An entry-level sonographer can expect to make about $42,600 per year and earn more as he or she gains experience.
Education:
A variety of education and training opportunities are available for those aspiring to become sonographers. If you excel in math, health, and/or science, you might apply for sonography training in the military, vocational schools or hospitals. You may also pursue an associate’s degree or bachelor’s in sonography. Your coursework will likely include:
- anatomy
- instrumentation
- medical ethics
- patient care
- physics
- physiology.
If you already work in the field of healthcare and wish to transition into sonography, there are one-year certification programs available. Sonographers in the U.S. need not be licensed, however.
Associations:
- American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
- American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
- American Society of Echocardiography
- Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
- Society for Vascular Ultrasound
Wed, Mar 24, 2010
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