How to become a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer 2024

Diagnostic Medical Sonographer Produce ultrasonic recordings of internal organs for use by physicians. Includes vascular technologists.

Diagnostic Medical Sonographer is Also Know as

In different settings, Diagnostic Medical Sonographer is titled as

Cardiac Sonographer
Diagnostic Medical Sonographer
Medical Sonographer
Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS)
Sonographer
Staff Sonographer
Ultrasonographer
Ultrasound Technician (Ultrasound Tech)
Ultrasound Technologist (Ultrasound Tech)

Education and Training of Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Diagnostic Medical Sonographer is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Training Required for Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Diagnostic Medical Sonographer in different industries are

What Do Diagnostic Medical Sonographer do?

Decide which images to include, looking for differences between healthy and pathological areas.
Observe screen during scan to ensure that image produced is satisfactory for diagnostic purposes, making adjustments to equipment as required.
Observe and care for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort.
Provide sonogram and oral or written summary of technical findings to physician for use in medical diagnosis.
Operate ultrasound equipment to produce and record images of the motion, shape, and composition of blood, organs, tissues, or bodily masses, such as fluid accumulations.
Select appropriate equipment settings and adjust patient positions to obtain the best sites and angles.
Determine whether scope of exam should be extended, based on findings.
Process and code film from procedures and complete appropriate documentation.
Obtain and record accurate patient history, including prior test results or information from physical examinations.
Prepare patient for exam by explaining procedure, transferring patient to ultrasound table, scrubbing skin and applying gel, and positioning patient properly.
Record and store suitable images, using camera unit connected to the ultrasound equipment.
Coordinate work with physicians or other healthcare team members, including providing assistance during invasive procedures.
Maintain records that include patient information, sonographs and interpretations, files of correspondence, publications and regulations, or quality assurance records, such as pathology, biopsy, or post-operative reports.
Perform legal and ethical duties, including preparing safety or accident reports, obtaining written consent from patient to perform invasive procedures, or reporting symptoms of abuse or neglect.
Supervise or train students or other medical sonographers.
Maintain stock and supplies, preparing supplies for special examinations and ordering supplies when necessary.
Clean, check, and maintain sonographic equipment, submitting maintenance requests or performing minor repairs as necessary.
Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records, or archiving computerized images.
Perform medical procedures, such as administering oxygen, inserting and removing airways, taking vital signs, or giving emergency treatment, such as first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Load and unload film cassettes used to record images from procedures.

Qualities of Good Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.

Tools Used by Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

3D sonography equipment
A-Mode ultrasound machines
Cardiac ultrasound equipment
Color Doppler ultrasound equipment
Continuous-wave ultrasound equipment
Desktop computers
Evacuated blood collection tubes
High frequency transducers
Immobilization and positioning devices
Intravenous IV supplies
Lancets
Lead barriers
M-mode ultrasound machines
Medical ultrasound printers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Personal protective clothing
Picture archiving and communication systems PACS
Plethysmographs
Pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound units
Safety glasses
Safety gloves
Sandbags
Sphygmomanometers
Tablet computers
Tourniquets
Transducers
Two-dimensional doppler ultrasound equipment
Ultrasound monitors
Ultrasound video equipment
Venipuncture needles
X ray beam restriction devices

Technology Skills required for Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Calendar and scheduling software
Database software
eClinicalWorks EHR software
Email software
Medical procedure coding software
MEDITECH software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Patient medical record software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

US Universities

How to become Diagnostic Medical Sonographer in 2024