Healthcare is a ever-growing field with job opportunities for people with all interests and talents. Just because you don’t want to be a doctor or nurse doesn’t mean you can’t join the fun. If you’re passionate about science and intrigued by technology, why not turn that enthusiasm into a career as an ultrasound technician?
What Does an Ultrasound Technician Do?
Ultrasound technicians use high-frequency sound waves to capture images of a patient’s internal body structures. Also known as medical sonographers, they play a critical role in the diagnosis of disease.
While you may be familiar with the use of ultrasound to assess babies in the womb, sonography is also used to evaluate the thyroid gland, breast tissue, blood vessels, and abdominal organs. Unlike a biopsy, it’s a non-invasive test.
As an ultrasound technician, you’ll help doctors put together the pieces of medical puzzles by contributing high-quality images. Job responsibilities include:
Preparing Patients for Exams
Most ultrasounds require a change of clothing for patients both to protect their clothes from the ultrasound gel and to improve access to body parts for ultrasound technicians. You’ll help patients prepare for the test by explaining the procedure and offering them suitable clothing to wear while protecting their privacy.
Performing Ultrasound Examinations
Using ultrasound equipment, you’ll obtain ultrasonic images by moving a transducer over the patient’s skin around the affected area. A layer of water-soluble gel smooths the movement of the transducer and eliminates air gaps that could impede sound wave conduction. You’ll be responsible for operating the ultrasound machine, choosing the settings, and selecting an appropriate transducer.
Image Evaluation
After capturing the images, ultrasound technicians review and evaluate the diagnostic quality of the images. A clear view of body structures is essential for diagnostic purposes, so if you’re not satisfied with the results, you can redo the test.
While you won’t interpret the results, you’ll identify normal and abnormal structures, document your findings, and note them in the report that you’ll forward to the patient’s physician.
Team Collaboration
Ultrasound technicians are part of a multidisciplinary team. As a professional in your field, you’ll serve as a resource for healthcare providers, collaborating with radiologists, obstetricians, cardiologists, and other medical professionals on tough cases.
Equipment Calibration and Maintenance
Ultrasound technicians typically calibrate and maintain the equipment they use. Periodic calibration of the ultrasound machine is necessary to ensure accurate and reliable imaging. The process involves a physical inspection, verification of systems settings, and installing software updates. These quality assurance measures help identify malfunctions that could affect performance parameters.
Daily maintenance chores include disinfecting ultrasound equipment. Keeping the transducer clean prevents the spread of transmissible disease.
Environmental Safety
Ultrasound is less risky to patients than radiation. Still, it’s not entirely without risks. Ultrasound technicians maintain a clean work area and follow strict safety protocols to minimize harm to patients and coworkers, such as sanitizing shared surfaces between patient visits.
Ultrasound technicians may also assist with administrative tasks, such as scheduling appointments, maintaining inventory, or assisting in quality assurance activities within their departments.
How Do You Become an Ultrasound Technician?
Sonographers need a certificate or a degree, most have an Associate of Science degree. Certificate programs that take only a year to complete are available for people with an existing degree in the medical field. Most students enroll in associate degree programs because graduates qualify for most of the same jobs as their bachelor’s educated peers.
Graduates are eligible for certification through the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS), a critical credential for working in most hospitals. If you’re on the fence about career choices, consider this, ultrasonography is consistently named among the top ten highest paying jobs you can get with an associate degree, according to CNBC.
What Do You Learn During an Ultrasound Technician Program?
Ultrasound technician programs take students from beginner to expert with comprehensive courses in health and science. The curriculum covers:
Anatomy and Physiology
Ultrasound technicians require a thorough understanding of human anatomy and physiology. Sonography programs cover body structure and function with an emphasis on the organ systems and tissues ultrasound technicians typically evaluate. Courses are tailored to the role with a focus on the musculoskeletal, nervous, reproductive, and abdominal organ systems.
Ultrasound Physics
Students learn the fundamental principles and concepts related to ultrasound equipment and imaging. Topics include:
Ultrasound basics — how sound waves behave including frequency, speed, wavelength, and attenuation.
The Pulse-Echo Principle — how ultrasound devices convert ultrasonic pulses into diagnostic images.
The Doppler Effect — an introduction to and its application in ultrasound imaging including the principles of spectral, color and power Doppler and the interpretation of Doppler waveforms.
Transducers — types of ultrasound transducers, how they work, and transducer selection based on application and examination requirements.
Beam Formation — how ultrasound beams are created and focused.
Tissue interactions — the reflection, scattering, absorption, and transmission of ultrasound waves and how interactions with tissue affect image formation.
Artifacts — the identification of common artifacts in ultrasound images, such as reverberation, shadowing, and acoustic enhancement.
Safety and bioeffects — the potential biological effects of ultrasound on tissues and the safety guidelines that protect patients.
Instrumentation and Equipment
Ultrasound equipment varies by facility, but students are familiarized with the average machine and its functions, including time-gain compensation (TGC), dynamic range, focus, and depth controls. You’ll learn to operate the equipment and adjust the settings to optimize image quality.
Students are also introduced to quality assurance and quality control programs in the ultrasound field, learning about the importance of equipment calibration and maintenance, and adherence to best practice standards.
Pathophysiology
An extension of the anatomy course, this class covers the common diseases affecting different organs. You’ll study the appearance of normal and abnormal tissue and vascular structures on ultrasound, learning to recognize signs of pathology.
Image Evaluation
Ultrasound technicians learn to evaluate ultrasound images effectively by studying normal and abnormal anatomy associated with different conditions. This is a must-have skill for providing accurate reports to healthcare professionals.
Patient Care and Communication
Communication skills are critical for ultrasound technicians. In this course, you’ll learn how to explain procedures to patients and address their concerns with a professional and compassionate demeanor.
Medical Law and Ethics
Healthcare is a highly regulated field with strict legal and ethical standards. This class explores the regulatory requirements relevant to medical imaging, including informed consent and patient privacy, plus the common ethical considerations today’s healthcare workers face.
Sonogram Techniques
This is a hands-on course covering the practical aspects of performing ultrasound scans. You’ll learn how to position patients, apply ultrasound gel, and use the transducer to obtain images of body areas as requested by providers.
Students explore specialized ultrasound applications in fields, such as obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and neurology. You’ll get a clear understanding of the many types of careers you can cultivate as a sonographer.
What Are Some of the Jobs Available for Ultrasound Technicians with a Degree?
Ultrasound technicians with a degree can chart their own course in a variety of work settings. Here are just a few examples.
Hospitals
Many ultrasound technicians work in hospitals where they perform examinations on patients with a wide array of disorders. Depending on the size of the facility, you could work as a generalist in the radiology department or as a dedicated sonographer in a specific department such as obstetrics, cardiology, internal medicine, or vascular imaging. Working as a generalist in a hospital is a great way to gain experience and work hours toward a specialty certificate in the field of your choice.
The ARDMS offers certificates in these areas:
- Abdominal Sonography
- Breast Ultrasound
- Fetal Echocardiogram
- Neurosonology
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Pediatric Sonography
- Sonography Principles and Instrumentation
Physician’s Offices
Many private practices, particularly those specializing in obstetrics, gynecology, urology, and orthopedics, hire sonographers. In these settings, you’ll perform diagnostic imaging and assist with ultrasound-guided procedures, such as joint aspirations and steroid injections.
Outpatient Care Centers
Outpatient facilities offer medical services, such as ultrasound examinations, for patients who are not hospitalized. You can work in an urgent care or specialty clinic. The need for cardiology, orthopedic, and vascular care services is so great that standalone clinics are opening to manage hospital overflow, and most have on-site sonographers.
Imaging Centers
Imaging centers focus only on medical imaging, x-rays, ultrasonography, MRI and CT scanning. For patients, services are less costly. For staff, it’s an opportunity to see a diverse subset of patients without working hospital hours. It’s also an environment in which you’ll work exclusively with other imaging professionals, so you’ll learn a lot.
Maternal Medicine Centers
These centers specialize in high-risk pregnancies and fetal ultrasound examinations. Ultrasound technicians in these settings perform detailed scans to evaluate fetal development and assist in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities or birth complications.
Mobile Imaging Services
Mobile imaging centers travel to different places to perform ultrasound exams for facilities without equipment, like nursing homes, or for patients who can’t travel.
Medical Sales and Support
Someone must sell imaging equipment, and who could be better at that than a sonographer? If you like road life, it’s a fun and flexible job helping facilities find the right equipment. And you’ll help train staff by providing demonstrations and technical support.
Ultrasound technicians working in any of these settings also have opportunities for career advancement. With experience, continuing education, and certifications, you can grow into supervisory or leadership positions.
Final Thoughts
The healthcare system is expanding quickly and with it comes unprecedented career opportunity. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 10% increase in job openings for sonographers through 2031. If you’re not satisfied with your current job and long for a role in which you make a difference in your community, Meridian College is waiting for your call.
Want to Learn More?
Are you fascinated by the advances in 21st Century medicine that allow your health providers to see real-time pictures of blood flow in your arteries or watching a baby move? Enroll in the Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound Associate Degree program from Meridian College and get the training you need for a rewarding new career as an ultrasound technician.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a ultrasound technician.