If you’re looking for a career in the healthcare field that would allow you to interact with and help patients daily, then an education in diagnostic medical sonography could be the right path for you. In this career, you’d be working with special imaging equipment to determine and document various medical conditions of patients. The wide variety of opportunities in this career allows you to specialize in the area of the body that most interests you. Do you know what someone in this career can expect on a day-to-day basis? Here are some basic tasks that you would be responsible for in this line of work:

• Working with medical technology
• Specializing in an area of the body
• Recognizing normal and abnormal images
• Interacting with patients

Working With Medical Technology

As a diagnostic medical sonographer, you’ll use special imaging equipment that directs sound waves into a patient’s body. This process allows you to analyze and document various medical conditions. Since diagnostic sonographers work so closely with imaging equipment, it’s important that you know how to properly care for them and operate them correctly. Making sure that you know the equipment helps patients receive accurate information.

Specializing in an Area of the Body

This area of medicine has a wide variety of specialties available, allowing you to pick which area of the body you’d most like to focus on. Some examples of specific types of sonographers are:

• Abdominal sonographers
• Breast sonographers
• Musculoskeletal sonographers
• Vascular Sonographer
• Obstetric and gynecologic sonographers
• Pediatric Sonographer

Many think that ultrasounds are only used to track a baby’s growth and development, but that’s just one area you can specialize in. Your daily tasks depend on which area of the body you choose to specialize in. If you choose to specialize in obstetric and gynecologic sonography, then you’d be examining images of infants in the womb. This is just one example of an area of the body you can specialize in. There’s a lot that goes into these different areas and it all depends on you and what you want to focus on.

Recognizing Normal and Abnormal Images

In addition to operating and managing the special imaging equipment, diagnostic medical sonographers are also responsible for accurately interpreting the images they create. Once an image is made, you would analyze them to check for quality of image. You would also ensure that the image reaches the full area of the intended body area. A diagnostic medical sonographer should be able to determine whether an image is normal or abnormal. You would then be responsible to record your findings to make sure that you keep an accurate document to share with your patients.

Interacting with Patients

As a diagnostic medical sonographer, you would be working closely with your patients to make sure they are comfortable. You’d be taking care of the patients for the duration of the procedure. This starts by preparing patients for the procedure by taking their medical history and answering any questions they have. You’d then apply a gel on the body area to help the sound waves’ ability to show the inside of the body. After you’d be responsible for organizing what you’ve found into the patient’s records to ensure that their medical history is accurate and up to date.

Learn About Our Diagnostic Medical Sonographer Program

The Diagnostic Medical Sonography program at American Institute is taught in a hybrid of online and on-campus learning. This helps students learn the skills they’ll need to know through a flexible schedule. Contact us to learn more about our program and how you can apply.