Sonography Saves Lives

Have you ever dreamed of a career that involved life saving measures only to discover you couldn’t handle the sight or smell of blood? You don’t have to let that dream die. Become a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer and you’re bound to save a life or two—even if it’s just the first step in the process.

Sonography diagnoses illnesses and diseases during their early stages. Early detection allows doctors to provide proper medical treatment—treatment that could mean the difference between life and death.

And if you have a compassionate heart and can show empathy for those diagnosed with life threatening diseases, such as cancer, you’ll be a God-send. When a patient is given “bad” news, he/she needs someone there who can lend an ear, share a prayer, and even offer a shoulder to cry on.

Once the “bad” news is given, the patient will return to you, the sonographer, for follow-up tests. During those tests, your patient may experience anxiety or break down in tears—fearing the worse. It’ll be your job to provide comfort and empathy, to calm down your patient so that you can obtain an accurate reading.

To learn more about how early detection can save lives, read the following articles:

Transvaginal Ultrasound Detects Early Ovarian Cancer

Sonography Better At Detecting Breast Cancer In Women Over 45

Ultrasound Detects RH-Negative Complications In The Womb

Ultrasound Detects Melanoma Metastases Missed by Clinical Examination

Ultrasound Shows Healing Progress Of Fracture And Need For 2nd Surgery

Come back on Monday as we clinical training.

Prenatal Sonography

According to the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics, “The use of prenatal sonography (PSG) is rapidly increasing as more pregnant women are even requesting studies. Most obstetric ultrasounds occur in general community settings like small hospitals and clinics with personnel who have variable training, experience, and interest levels.”

Most people refer to prenatal sonograms as ultrasounds. They are used to monitor the growth of a baby inside his/her mother’s womb, to assure both parents that the baby is healthy, to determine gender, and to keep an eye out for birth defects, disease, and illness.

Routine prenatal sonograms help parents make informed decisions such as taking maternity leave (thanks to a more reliable due date), requesting fetal therapy or in-uterus surgery (to save the life of the fetus or prevent birth defects), and terminating pregnancy (should reasons deem necessary).

Thanks to the invention of prenatal sonography, early detection has allowed surgeons to perform in-uterus surgeries that have corrected birth defects and saved the lives of countless infants.

To learn more about how prenatal sonography helps detect birth defects, disease, and illnesses, check out the following resources:

Medscape: The Role of Sonography in the Evaluation of Pregnant Women

RTS: Prenatal Diagnosis of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome

Heart Online: Outcome after prenatal diagnosis of the hypoplastic left heart syndrome

And for the mothers out there, read Mothering magazine’s article on prenatal testing.

Come back on Friday as we discuss how diagnostic medical sonography helps save lives.

Cardiovascular Sonography

Diagnostic medical sonographers have the opportunity to specialize in various fields, among those fields are: cardiovascular sonography, prenatal (keeping an eye on fetal growth), and prevention.

Today, we’re going to tackle cardiovascular sonography.

Cardiovascular sonography uses sound waves to produce images of the heart and the vessels leading to the heart. The main purpose of cardiovascular sonograms is to determine if the heart is functioning properly, and to locate problem areas and/or disease. Once a problem or health issue has been identified, doctors can take appropriate action to heal the heart.

According to The U.S. Department of Labor, “Cardiovascular technologists may specialize in any of three areas of practice: invasive cardiology, echocardiography, and vascular technology.” Regardless of the area of practice, most—if not all—sonographers work 40 hour work weeks with five days on and two days off.

To learn more about the field of cardiovascular sonography, check out the following resources:

The American Society of Echocardiography

Journal of Ultrasound In Medicine

Guidelines for Cardiac Sonographer

Come back on Wednesday as we discuss prenatal sonography.