<p>Theres a great chance ill be following this career path.</p>
<p>Its a 2 year AA Degree, there is also a 2 year waiting list for the program so this is pretty popular.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this? Im a male, do you think that would make a difference in the hiring process? Would you females have a problem with a male doing a scan on you?</p>
<p>I’ve had male sonographers for both obstetric and non-obstetric abdominal procedures. Never felt uncomfortable. Best of luck to your in your studies!</p>
<p>I don’t care at all what gender a medical professional is. My current “lady doctor” is a man, so I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with a man scanning my belly.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t have a problem at all.</p>
<p>Make sure you can sit for the national registry exam after you finish training. If you’re talking a for-profit school, sometimes you can’t and then no one will hire you.</p>
<p>I’d be a little concerned about the two year waiting list for the program. Most of these, even though only 2 year or certificat programs, are pretty competitive for admission. You generally don’t just sign up and wait until they let you in; rather, you are selected. Make sure the program is legitimate.</p>
<p>The program is accredited. The only problem is the school is 60 miles away. I cant do that drive on a daily basis, especially Los Angeles traffic, I also can’t afford my own apartment.</p>
<p>What do I do?</p>
<p>you have two years to figure out a way to move 60 miles.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, Medical Sonography sounds great. Good job prospects, and good pay for only a 2-year degree. Flexible hours too. You will be dealing w/ people all day, sometimes touching them and moving them, and many of them will be ill, elderly, or have physical problems, so it’s maybe not a fit for everyone.</p>
<p>I know the admission competition is tough at our C-C for the Sonography program. Among the application requirements is experience shadowing a Sonography Technician. Like many medical programs, they want to be sure the applicant really knows what the job is about before they admit you.</p>
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<p>What does this mean? Almost every school, even the most sketchy ones, will boast of accreditation (actually the most sketchy will boast the most loudly so you don’t even have to look it up). It all depends upon who provided it and what that means in the relevant community to the degree. </p>
<p>Just do your homework and talk to those in the industry about this school (don’t take the school’s word for it). And find out where their grads are going afterwards (or as someone asked, about the national registry). That kind of thing.</p>
<p>I’d try making inquiries about places you might be interested in working locally & elsewhere. Ask them what they think of the program you’re considering and how well/poorly their grads seem to do & whether they would be interested in considering you if you got your degree there. Also ask them if there is a program they’d recommend OVER the one you’re considering.</p>
<p>There is an excellent 4 year degreed program at Seattle University.</p>
<p>Physician here. Go for it if you like it. Cardiology has “ECHO techs”, other areas of expertise in the field as well. See if you can job shadow while you are waiting to get into a program. The pay and need is there- but the job, like all medical fields, includes call schedules and weekends.</p>
<p>I have a friend and co-worker who is currently waiting to complete nursing school. He’s already started taking a few classes, but then then they put him on hold for 18 months-2 years! I think he has taken classes and is taking a couple online currently, but can’t start the clinical portion for awhile still!</p>
<p>I work at a university that offers a medical sonography program. However, ours requires an associates or bachelor’s degree in a health services area prior to applying. Our program is via distance learning, with in-person clinicals (variety of locations). We offer either a certificate or can be part of a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree.</p>
<p>PM me if you want specific information.</p>
<p>I would not want a male tech doing a GYN ultrasound on me. My recent ultrasounds have been trans-vaginal, not external abdominal. It would be uncomfortable.</p>
<p>It was mentioned earlier but Andy: if the school is a for-profit one, be wary. Also continue to see what other schools offer this program as well. I’m continually hearing horror stories of the for-profit “colleges” and how they prey on the most vulnerable in our society.</p>
<p>Yes, Andy, please do your homework. All of the posts above warning you are correct. There is one program here in my area that boasts accreditation, but it is the school, NOT the program that is accredited. They are also woefully lacking in enough clinicals for the students. Because of those 2 things, the students who finished were not registry eligible. Many of them incurred tremendous debt and still are not practicing sonography after several years. A good program will have 2 years of prereqs before acceptance into the program. A male sonographer who can put his patient at ease will be able to scan anyone comfortably but should be aware that it may be prudent to have another person accompany them with members of the opposite sex for ob/gyn or very young patients. It may be that you settle on a specialty like Echo or Vascular technology rather than general US anyway. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, finding an accredited college with sonography tech course is very difficult. The reason being that this career has recently gain importance. People are now realizing that ultrasound is much safer and cheaper compared to other imaging procedures. I came across a site on web, which has a list of some accredited colleges offering ultrasound tech courses. [Ultrasound</a> Tech Scholarships | Ultrasound Tech School](<a href=“http://ultrasoundtechschool.org/ultrasound-tech-college-grants/]Ultrasound”>http://ultrasoundtechschool.org/ultrasound-tech-college-grants/) It has mentioned about the scholarship programs offered by these colleges. I think it might help Andy, as these colleges have both associate as well as bachelor’s degree courses.</p>
<p>I’ve researched this recently, too. I believe the accredited schools can be found at [CAAHEP</a> - Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs](<a href=“http://www.caahep.org%5DCAAHEP”>http://www.caahep.org). Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. There were both private and public schools listed, but what really surprised me is that most of the programs I looked up were 3 year programs. Some, as mentioned earlier, required you to have a degree before you could even enroll.</p>
<p>My OB/GYN is a male, so I’d have no problem with a male. I had a transvaginal exam last week and it was less invasive than my regular pap smear.</p>
<p>I’ve had male techs do GYN ultrasounds on me, including trans-vaginal ultrasound. Doesn’t bother me a bit. </p>
<p>But I think that the techs learn ways to help female patients feel comfortable. They also learn how to keep a straight face, even when the ultrasound shows something startling, like quadruplets.</p>