A Career As A Medical Sonographer

My career goal is to become a diagnostic medical sonographer, or an ultrasound technician. Each day as an ultrasound technician will bring new surprises. In the morning a sonographer could be conducting an OB/GYN ultrasound, helping an excited first-time mom see her fetus developing in her belly. Then, then in the next procedure your trying to calm an old woman as she waits to see if her tumors have grown. The days of a medical sonographer are never dull but are challenging, fast-paced, and rewarding. As a sonographer you have the opportunity to help all kinds of different people, from all walks of life, with all kinds of different problems.
A diagnostic medical sonographer, provides services to patients using high frequency sound waves to

Most ultrasound technicians are employed by general medical and surgical hospitals but there is also the choice of private physician offices, medical and diagnostic laboratories, outpatient care centers, or colleges, Universities and professional schools. The job is generally a full time, 40 hour a week position, but part time can also be found. Patients need care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so evening, weekend and on call shifts may be expected. Sonographers often work in low-lit, sterile examination rooms. Ultrasound technicians are standing or on their feet for a majority of the day. Patient lifting, turning and assistance may also be required. As a sonographer there is endless opportunity for career advancement, expansion, or even change of career within the medical diagnostic field. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the projected outlook for employment of diagnostic medical sonographers is projected to grow 17 percent by 2026, which is above average for all occupations. The unemployment rate is 1.1% for this field (Diagnostic Medical Sonographers, 2018). People will never stop ageing, getting sick, and deteriorating which means these positions in health care will always be

Ultrasound technicians may work and consult with everyone from janitors and other medical staff to medical assistants, nurses, physicians and radiologists. A medical assistant, or the ultrasound tech them self will call the patient back, escort them to a changing room and instruct them on how to be ready, or how to wear a gown for the procedure. The medical assistant will guarantee all pre-exam procedures have been followed correctly. After ensuring the patient is ready for the exam, the medical assistant would then report to the sonographer that patient is ready. Nurses also work closely with ultrasound technicians and patients. Nurses act as the messengers between patients and doctors. They also act as messengers for physicians when they can not be present. The nurses are the ones caring for patients, and taking all that information to the doctor, then if the doctor orders an ultrasound, the nurse then takes that information to the patient. After consulting the patient, the nurse would put in the order and ensure that the ultrasound was scheduled (and took place if within a hospital). Physicians and radiologists are diagnostic sonographers’ supervisors. A sonographer never steps out of their scope of practice and diagnoses a patient, that is the job of physicians. Physicians need sonographers to see into the body and the sonographers need the physicians