Ultrasound Technician Education

There are various ways to get training for this position. An individual can get trained in diagnostic medical sonography in a hospital, a college/university, the military, or from a vocational school. In 2008, The Commission on Accreditation for Allied Health Education Programs, CAAHEP, provided accreditation for 161 programs. The accreditation is for the most formal training programs, including sonography

technicians. These various programs take anywhere from one to four years for completion depending on whether the students is working on a certificate, associates degree, or bachelors degree.

There are some prerequisites for the programs that vary. For a one year program students will qualify based on having a clinically related allied health profession. For a two year program the applicant must have a high school diploma with a basic background in math and science. The more classes you take in high school, including algebra, trigonometry and science classes including physics, and allied health classes. Higher level cognitive skills will help any student desiring to pursue this job with critical thinking, active listening and reading comprehension skills.

A strong comprehension of the human anatomy is essential for an Ultrasound Technology degree. In addition, in a two-year program, participants are taught detailed methods of scanning for different purposes. Required courses include: general physics, abdominal sonography, vascular sonography, anatomy, obstetric sonography, fetal and neonatal anomalies, and medical terminology.

There are several tests that are a part of the ARDMS. The sonography principals and instrumentation (SPI) is three hours long with 170 multiple choice questions. There are other tests that vary in time from two to four hours testing time with 150 to 240 questions. The cost of the testing is $500 for each of the various tests.