What is A Sonographer?
Sonogrpahy Careers
Sonography, or ultrasonography is using sound waves to produce images of organs, tissues, or blood flow inside the body. Layman’s terms: looking at your insides. Sonography is an alternative to radiology, which has been used for years to show pregnant moms their little nuggets. Sonographers operate the equipment, which collects the images that are photographed and examined by doctors. From these photographs physicians can diagnose patients.
By the Numbers
- More than half of all sonographers were employed by hospitals, and most of the rest were employed by offices of physicians, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and mobile imaging services.
- Diagnostic medical sonographers held about 46,000 jobs in 2006.
- Employment of diagnostic medical sonographers is expected to increase by about 19 percent through 2016—faster than the average for all occupations—as the population ages, increasing the demand for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic technology.
Preparation
Sonographers may train in hospitals, vocational-technical institutions, colleges and universities; employers prefer those who trained in accredited programs and who are registered. Colleges and universities offer formal training in both 2- and 4-year programs, culminating in an associate or a bachelor’s degree. Two-year programs are the most common.
Personality Profile
Hands and eyes would be great. Just teasing, but seriously hand-eye coordination is necessary to get good images. An affection or healthy tolerance for math and sciences is prime. People who go into sonography have to participate in continuting education. As technology advances and better images are produced, sonographers must learn about these new techniques and programs.
Perks
- Faster-than-average employment growth is expected.
- Sonography will likely become more popular and more in demand as people search for safer alternatives to radiology.
- Sonography doesn’t have the radioactive side effects taht radiology comes with.
Interesting Tidbit
Different specialities withing sonogrpahy include: Echocardiography (blood flow and blood vessels), Neurosonology (brain and spinal cord) and Gynecology (you guessed it, looking at little baby nuggets in the womb).
Show me the money
Annual earnings differed slightly between doctors’ offices and hospitals in 2002, averaging $50,390 and $47,530 respectively. The median overall earnings for diagnostic medical sonographers were $48,660. The highest and lowest ten percent earned $66,680 and $35,800 respectively, while the middle half made between $41,420 and $56,020.
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