Alabama

• Trenholm State Technical College – Montgomery offers an Associate Degree of Applied Science in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS).

Arkansas

• University of Arkansas for Medical Science – College of Health Related Professions - Little Rock has Bachelors in Diagnostic Medical Sonography, some of which can be taken online with the proper medical background.

Arizona

• GateWay Community College – Phoenix has a program in DMS for students who are already licensed in one of several medical technician fields.

California

• Cypress College Department of Health Science - Cypress offers a Certificate in Diagnostic Medical Sonography
• Foothill College Diagnostic Medical Sonography Department – Los Altos has an eighteen month program that can lead to certification or an associates degree.

Colorado

• University of Colorado Medical Center – Aurora has a twelve month program in this specialty that is open to students who hold previous degrees in a medical technology field – nursing, radiologic technology, etc.

Connecticut

• Gateway Community College – New Haven offers an Associate Degree program that is pending accreditation.

District of Columbia

• George Washington University Medical Center has a Diagnostic Medical Sonography program that offers certificate and degree options.

Florida

• Keiser University offers an Associate Degree in DMS at its Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale campuses.
• Central Florida Institute has an Associate Degree in DMS available at its Orlando and Tampa campuses.

Georgia

• Athens Technical College – Athens conducts an AS degree program that allows graduates to sit for exams in the several Sonography specialization areas.
• Sanford-Brown College – Atlanta offers a Certificate in Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Iowa

• Mercy College of Health Sciences – Des Moines has a full Associates’ Degree program in the field.

Idaho

• Boise State University offers a twelve month program to qualify students who hold degrees in a medical technician field for the sonography specialization.

Illinois

• College of DuPage – Glen Elyn has an Associates’ Degree program as well as Certificates for sonographic specialties, available as continuing education opportunities for working professionals in the field.
• Harper College - Palatine offers the full Associate of Science in Diagnostic Medical Sonography.

Indiana

• University of Southern Indiana has a BS in the field that provides for specialization in either Cardiovascular or Vascular Sonography.

Kansas

• University of Kansas Medical Center – Kansas City has a 21 month program that leads to a Certificate in DMS.

Kentucky

• Bowling Green Technical College has a Certificate program, a Diploma option and an AAS degree in DMS.

Louisiana

• Delgado Community College – New Orleans has a sixteen month, full time course of study that results in a Certificate in DMS.

Massachusetts

• Springfield Technical Community College – Springfield has a two year DMS program leading to a degree.
• Bunker Hill Community College - Boston has two Associates’ Degrees in Sonography – one in General Sonography, one in Cardiac Sonography.

Maryland

• Johns Hopkins Medicine School of Medical Imaging – Baltimore offers a 14 month certification program in DMS.

Michigan

• Ferris State University – Big Rapids has an Associate Degree program for DMS.
• Lansing Community College – Lansing offers a two year program leading to a degree in Medical Sonography.

Minnesota

• Argosy University College of Health Sciences – Eagan offers an Associates’ Degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography at its.

Missouri

• St Louis Community College – St Louis offers a 42 credit-hour program for professionals who already hold an Associate Degree or higher.

Mississippi

• Hinds Community College – Jackson has a DMS program that is expanding from Jackson to its other five campuses.

North Carolina

• Cape Fear Community College has a two year program for DMS that includes extensive clinical work.

Nebraska

• BryanLGH College of Health Sciences – Lincoln has programs for Vascular Sonography, General Sonography, and Cardiac Sonography.

New Jersey

• Bergen Community College – Paramus has a program that specializes in abdomen, ob/gyn and cardiac sonography. Students are required to complete all three specialties.

New Mexico

• Central New Mexico Community College – Albuquerque offers an Associates of Applied Science in DMS.

New York

• New York University – Manhattan has an Associate of Applied Science in DMS program.
• Rochester Institute of Technology – Rochester offers one of the few Bachelor of Science programs for DMS in the nation.

Ohio

• Sanford Brown College – Cleveland has a Diploma program in DMS. 
• Cincinnati State Technical Community College – Cincinnati offers both an AAS degree and a Certificate in DMS training.

Oklahoma

• Moore Norman Technology Center – Norman has a program for DMS study that results in a credential and provides credits that are transferrable to a college.

Pennsylvania

• Community College of Allegheny County – Boyce Campus, Monroeville has both a Certificate program and an Associate’s Degree in DMS.
• South Hills School of Business and Technology – State College has a Diploma program for working professionals in the medical technology field and a three year Associate Degree program for students new to the field.

Rhode Island

• Community College of Rhode Island – Flanagan Campus offers a two year Associate Degree program in DMS.

South Carolina

• Greenville Technical College – Greenville has an Associate Degree program in general DMS, currently with no specialization options.

South Dakota

• Southeast Technical Institute – Sioux Falls offers an Associate in Applied Science Degree in DMS that includes seven months of clinical study in a nearby medical facility.

Tennessee

• Chattanooga State Community College has twelve month programs in General DMS and in Cardiovascular Sonography that are meant for professionals who already hold an Associate Degree in a medical field.
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center School of Diagnostic Medical Sonography  – Nashville has an eighteen month Certificate program in DMS for students who already possess at minimum an Associate degree in a medical field.

Texas

• Sanford Brown College – Dallas and Houston offers a DMS program on both campuses that can be completed in sixteen to twenty months.
• Austin Community College – Austin has Associate in Applied Science Degrees for DMS and for Diagnostic Cardiac Technology (Echocardiography).

Virginia

• Tidewater Community College – Virginia Beach has an AAS degree program for DMS and claims to be the only Sonography program in the state.

Washington

• Bellevue Community College – Bellevue offers an Associate Degree in Ultrasound Technology and a Certificate in Breast Ultrasound.

Wisconsin.

• Chippewa Valley Technical College – Eau Claire has an Associate Degree program for DMS.

West Virginia

• Mountain State University – Beckley offers both an AS and a BS degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography.  The Bachelors program adds vascular sonography and echocardiography to the course track.

Vascular Sonography

Medical sonographers who specialize in vascular ultrasound apply their skills to tests that involve the arteries, veins and capillaries that are used to move blood around the body. One of the more frightening conditions that can be caused by a blood clot is the pulmonary embolism, a clot that develops in the main artery between the lungs and the heart. There are some situations where the vascular sonographer may become involved in cardiopulmonary examinations or procedures.

Vascular ultrasound scans are looking for clots or other arterial blockages more often than anything else. An ultrasound procedure for arterial blockage, for instance, can not only look for a small mass of material within an artery, it can also measure the pace of blood flow as it moves through arteries and veins.

The sonography equipment used for this type of study is called Doppler ultrasound. It is designed so that the sound waves measuring blood flow change in tone when movement of blood cells is detected. These “pings” are translated into visual presentations by the ultrasound computer.

Neurosonography

Neurosonography generates diagnostic images of the nervous system, including the brain. Neurosonographers often work in the area of neonatal care, examining, studying and diagnosing conditions of the neurological and nervous system of premature infants. This is once again an important advancement of medical technology, because the use of X-rays with neonates has always been a concern.

Echoencephalography is the study of the brain’s tissue and structure with ultrasound, which has become an important tool in neurology. Image guidance has also become a standard feature of several neurological medical procedures and often ultrasound is the image technology of choice. Cranial surgical procedures utilize ultrasound real-time imaging that provides an excellent picture of the surgical tools and the patient from any angle that the surgeon requests.

Neurosonography is also used to guide the application of regional anesthetics for procedures that are being conducted close to important nerves or nerve clusters. A physician conducting a shoulder operation, for instance, may use ultrasound images to determine exactly where an anesthetic syringe or catheter pumping local anesthetic should be placed.
Abdominal Sonography

Abdominal sonographers generally produce images of an organ or organ system within the patient’s abdominal cavity. This specialty incorporates a variety of examinations, a list that is growing as additional techniques develop. There are a lot of organs in the abdominal cavity, which means there are a lot of medical issues that arise in this part of the body.

An ultrasound examination of the liver and bile ducts may be searching for blockages, for a tumor, or for evidence of disease. The pancreas and spleen are examined for inflammation – one of the most painful and dangerous afflictions in this area is pancreatitis. For the kidneys, the gallbladder and the thyroid ultrasound procedures may involve the use of a medium that is injected and moves through the organ under study to highlight abnormalities.

Ultrasound technology is also used to assist in biopsy procedures, particularly in the abdominal area where there are so many organs clustered together. An ultrasound machine that is focused tightly on a particular organ or portion of an organ can help guide the biopsy process along with the endoscope operated by the physician. Ultrasound images can help the physician to see and evaluate:

Echocardiography

Echocardiographers are ultrasound technologists who study the heart, its chambers, valves and vessels. EKG’s, stress testing and Holter monitor procedures were developed to analyze electrical signals given off by the heart. Today those tests are augmented or in some cases replaced with the use of sonography.

These are three common tests that are conducted on a daily basis in clinics and hospitals that treat heart patients. Cardiovascular disease is among the top causes of death in this country; angiograms, angioplasties and heart bypass procedures are everyday occurrences in surgically equipped hospitals. An ultrasound machine can provide important imaging support for all of these procedures. Echocardiography is used in a multitude of tests that examine heart activity and blood flow from several physical angles and from the standpoint of blood flow impact on other organs such as the lungs.

The echocardiogram complements the electrocardiogram at the moment – one day ultrasound may supplant the traditional echocardiogram – or perhaps the two technologies can be merged through technology into a single test.

Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN)

Ultrasound images are used by obstetricians with pregnant patients to study the position of the fetus and the position of the placenta – these images (or exams using live pictures) are preparation for the child’s birth. They also, famously, can determine the child’s gender.

Ultrasound exams determine the possibility of multiple births and ascertain the amount of amniotic fluid protecting the fetus. For these and other pelvic exams, the sonographer uses a transducer – a handheld device that is passed over the pelvic area and returns images to a computer screen immediately.

Pelvic sonography for women that does not involve pregnancy may be conducted to evaluate the bladder, the fallopian tubes, the ovaries, the uterus or the cervix. Symptoms that lead to these exams may include pelvic pain, abnormal bleeding or menstrual problems. Ultrasound images help identify ovarian cysts or any tumors that may be found in the ovaries or the uterus.

Breast Sonography

Breast Sonography has become a specialty because it has emerged as an important tool in the fight against breast cancer. Ultrasound images of the breast tissue and blood supply are standard procedure today for tumor detection. Breast ultrasound is often partnered with mammography using X-rays and/or MRI procedures that can focus with precision on a very small area.

Unlike other forms of imaging, ultrasound can help to determine if a breast abnormality is solid (which may be either a non-cancerous lump of tissue or a cancerous tumor) or fluid-filled (such as a benign cyst) or both cystic and solid. Ultrasound can also be utilized to evaluate the flow of blood through the area using Doppler technology, which provided real time images of blood or other fluids through the body.

Currently, a majority of working ultrasound technicians (about 58%) are employed at hospitals. Some of those are categorized as general medical hospitals, others as surgical hospitals. Clearly the ultrasound technician who wants to work with physicians in providing imaging support is going to want a position at a surgical hospital.

Another 24% of all ultrasound technicians are currently employed in physicians’ offices. Medical practices today have grown to include dozens, even hundreds of doctors who have banded together for insurance purposes and for negotiating strength with insurance companies. Many of them maintain pathology labs in their facilities along with X-ray services; it appears that many are adding sonographers as well.

Ten percent are employed in medical and diagnostic laboratories. These are independent facilities that live off of referrals from physicians or from hospitals that don’t have the appropriate equipment. About five percent work in outpatient clinics, and the remainder are employed by colleges and universities or research facilities.

The top five states for pay scale for ultrasound technicians are: Oregon, Washington, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Alaska in that order. Four of the top five metro areas for ultrasound technician salaries are in Northern California. The fifth is the area around Northern Connecticut and Worcester, MA.

All of that is rapidly changing, with the possible exception of licensure although it is probably inevitable. Today you can train in medical sonography at a vocational school, a community college or a university.

Certificate Programs

There are certificate programs for ultrasound technicians that can be completed in two years or less, depending on the school. Some of these programs require applicants to have completed courses in biology, medical terminology and in some cases physics. In community colleges that offer ultrasound degrees, their certificate program often includes the same medical classes as the degree program.

Associate’s Degree

You can attain an Associate’s Degree in Medical Sonography after two years of study; this is the level of education that most ultrasound students are pursuing at the moment. There may be accelerated associate’s programs that include summer programs, but it takes two full years of study to really prepare for a medical sonography career, especially when you are completing the core courses for an associate’s program as well.

Bachelor’s Degree

More and more schools are also offering a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Sonography. When considering this option, you should take a look at what is happening in the nursing industry right now.

Tens of thousands of nurses who became RNs with an associate’s degree are going back to school to get a bachelor’s: RN to BSN is the degree description. Nurses with valuable skills and experience are finding that advancement to management ranks or specializations in some fields require additional educational credentials. That could easily become the case in sonography as the field expands along with the technology.

A Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Sonography is also going to give you a head start on specialization in the field should you choose to pursue it. There is also the option of obtaining an associate’s degree and completing the bachelor’s after you’re working.

Certification

There is no requirement for certification in medical ultrasound, but it is becoming more and more important to employers. The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) has a certification examination program which, when successfully completed, will provide you with status as a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer.

The examination consists of two parts. The first part, which every applicant must take, is the Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) exam. This test is mostly physics.

The second part of the exam is one of the following specialty options:

• Abdomen
• Breast
• Fetal Echocardiography
• Neurosonology
• Obstetrics & Gynecology

Certification remains an option today, but it is going to become increasingly important as will continuing status an RDMS, which requires renewal and continuing education. This is a great time to break into the medical sonography field, because it’s expanding rapidly but it is also going to stratify, so you should make the effort to obtain this voluntary credential.