Sonography Degree

Sonographers should experience favorable job opportunities, as sonography becomes an increasingly attractive alternative to radiological procedures. With this in mind you will want to get more information about this exciting career by looking into some sonography classes or checking out your choice of a sonography university. It is recommended to get a sonography degree from a diagnostic medical sonography program so you will have the necessary skills to compete for these highly attractive jobs. Sonography degrees are not required but very desirable and can you give you the edge against others.

There are several avenues for entry into the field of diagnostic medical sonography. Sonographers may train in hospitals, vocational-technical institutions, colleges and universities, and the Armed Forces. Some training programs prefer applicants with a background in science or experience in other health professions, but also will consider high school graduates with courses in mathematics and science, as well as applicants with liberal arts backgrounds.

Diagnostic medical sonographers held about 37,000 jobs in 2002. More than half of all sonographer jobs were in hospitals. Most of the rest were in offices of physicians or in medical and diagnostic laboratories, including diagnostic imaging centers.

Obstetric and gynecologic sonographers specialize in the study of the female reproductive system. Included in the discipline is one of the more well-known uses of sonography: examining the fetus of a pregnant woman to track its growth and health.

Abdominal sonographers inspect a patient’s abdominal cavity to help diagnose and treat conditions involving primarily the gallbladder, bile ducts, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and spleen. Abdominal sonographers also are able to scan parts of the chest, although studies of the heart using sonography usually are done by echocardiographers.

Neurosonographers focus on the nervous system, including the brain. In neonatal care, neurosonographers study and diagnose neurological and nervous system disorders in premature infants. They also may scan blood vessels to check for abnormalities indicating a stroke in infants diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia. Like other sonographers, neurosonographers operate transducers to perform the sonogram, but use frequencies and beam shapes different from those used by obstetric and abdominal sonographers.

Ophthalmologic sonographers use sonography to study the eyes. Sonography aids in the insertion of prosthetic lenses by allowing accurate measurement of the eyes. Ophthalmologic sonography also helps diagnose and track tumors, blood supply conditions, separated retinas, and other ailments of the eye and the surrounding tissue. Ophthalmologic sonographers use high-frequency transducers, made exclusively to study the eyes, which are much smaller than those used in other specialties.

From http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos273.htm

College Smart Links

Automotive Engineering
Topics covered in this article: Automotive engineering and design, automotive engineering universities, automotive engineering schools, automotive engineering school, automotive engineering programs

Dental Colleges
Topics covered in this article: Dentistry camp, dental classes, dental education, dental course, dental colleges

Technical Colleges
Topics covered in this article: Technical colleges, technical schools, tech schools, technical course, tech colleges