and can you make a living doing it? i dont care about being rich,but i think that if you go to school to work you deserve to make ends meet. can i do this by getting an AA or an AS?
2007-08-12 16:23:41 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Women's Health
Yes, they have Associates Degree programs, but not every college offers the program. If you find one and attend it will be well worth it. 20-30 hour currently. The schools usually have long waiting lists though.
2007-08-13 10:58:27 · answer #1 · answered by Rachel☺ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi there,
Your question is right up my alley, as I am Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (& Vascular Technician)(RDMS, RVT).
Depending on your area, you would want to find a community college (as Ultrasound is based on a 2-year Associates degree program), that offers divisions of Medical Imaging such as Nuclear Medicine or Radiography. This is the type of school that will generally have an Ultrasonography program availible.
The pay for Ultrasonography is excellent, and it is a fun occupation- as each patient is different in some way. To be an ultrasound technician, you must not be afraid of patient communication and contact, needles, blood, or other bodily fluids (as you will be exposed to all four and more!).
The schooling is difficult. You will start out (depending on your school) doing prereq. classes, emphasizing Ultrasound physics and the biologies. Then, you will start clinics in which you are not paid for, and will have to attend 30-35 hours a week. During this session you will be scanning and observing alongside the registered technician. Sonography is a very rewarding occupation, but the road is not an easy one.
Start out by Google-ing " Future Sonography Student" and see what results you get. You may have a school nearby that offers this excellent opportunity.
Best of luck, and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.
Kelly McBride, RDMS
2007-08-12 23:37:27 · answer #2 · answered by shamrox324 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a fellow sonographer I agree with Kelly's answer. The career is awesome..You can usually pick where you want to work..and your hours....Average salary is around $55-65 thousand a year..But it depends on how much you work...it is not uncommon for me to work and take call at night for 100 hours a week. On call is where you wear a beeper and have to come in on nights,weekends and holidays for emergency procedures.
I currently work night shift and weekends..(the shifts no one else wants work).In fact I am at work now getting paid..Once you add in shift differential and special l pay since I also do X-rays and CAT scans I am making about $30 bucks an hour.
Good luck and remember be serious cause ultrasound school ain't no cake walk....
2007-08-13 00:49:44 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe ultrasound tech.. is either an associates degree or certificate. Everywhere is diff. though at my com. college you have to have an AA degree in something else before they let you enroll in the ultrasound program. ---which is a 16 month program..But i heard of some places that let you go right into an AA degree for ultrasound. so check your school to see!!
2007-08-12 23:30:05 · answer #4 · answered by nikkylyn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get that degree from a community college, two years and you get an associates degree. and you can make a good living from it, depending on where you live. Their salaries can vary from 25 thou a year to 35 thou, again depending on where you live and end up working after school. And you need to go through a specialized two year program. Sonography school, and they are usually very competitive and hard to get into.
2007-08-12 23:29:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you need the degree to do it, I know that there is a school in Dallas specifically for that, so check it out wherever you are. I think it's just a certificate course. I had a friend that did it and she did alright. She was kind of on call for the hospital and made more when they called her on nights and weekends, but there are jobs that are not on call for regular hours. Salary.com says that sonographers in Dallas make in the 52K-69K range, which is good in Dallas.
2007-08-12 23:34:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I dont know where you're from but Im from California and an ultrasound tech here can make around 80,000 but you need 2 years experience
2007-08-12 23:30:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think if you find a school for being a medical assistant, they teach them there, or you could search online for stuff like that. usually, loads of sites pop up for ya
2007-08-12 23:29:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
You can find schools here: http://www.caahep.org/Find_An_Accredited_Program.aspx
Choose "diagnostic medical sonographer" and your state.
2007-08-14 19:27:20 · answer #9 · answered by RadTech - BAS RT(R)(ARRT) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋