Cardiac Sonography (Echocardiography)
At a Glance
Cardiac Sonography (Echocardiography)
Cardiac sonographers, also known as echocardiographers, use sophisticated diagnostic ultrasound equipment to produce dynamic real-time imaging of the heart's chambers, walls, valves, and great vessels to assist the physician in diagnosing cardiovascular disease. Cardiac sonographers complete important tasks, such as:
- Acquiring information related to the heart's anatomy and physiology
- Evaluating acquired and congenital cardiac abnormalities and associated complications
- Evaluating narrowed or leaking heart valves
- Looking for causes of murmurs, chest pain, shortness of breath
- Tracking and evaluating chronic heart conditions
- Aquiring images during an exercise or pharmacologic stress echocardiogram
Cardiac sonographers work directly with healthy and critically ill inpatients and outpatients of all ages. Most cardiac sonography procedures are noninvasive and are carried out in small, low-lit rooms. The sonographer can either stand or sit beside the patient, who is on a stretcher, exam talbe, or in a wheelchair. Sometimes the cardiac sonographer will transport a portable ultrasound to a patient's room, emergency department, and can perform echocardiograms in intensive care units.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program is to provide a comprehensive education preparing students for entry-level practice in Sonography as competent, caring members of the health care team, cultivating professionalism and life-long learning.
Cardiac Sonography Concentration within Your Degree
Students may complete this concentration as part of any of our Department Bachelor Programs. Dual-Concentration students can choose Cardiac Sonography in their first year. Cardiac Sonography is most often combined with Abdomen-Extended & OB/GYN and Vascular Sonography.
Students must consult an admissions counselor or a Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences faculty member when choosing concentrations, to help make sure that the combination you choose is the best option for your future career.
Goals
The goal of this program is to prepare competent entry-level songraphers in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains in adult cardiac sonography.
Students will:
- Select appropriate transducers and use appropriate technical settings
- Demonstrate knowledge of proper patient prep
- Obtain appropriate images of highest obtainable technical quality
- Provide safe and quality patient care
Students will:
- Adjust technical settings as needed based on patient body habitus and/or pathology
- Change transducers or patient position as needed for exam
- Critique images for diagnostic quality
Students will demonstrate appropriate and effective oral and written communication skills with patients and the interprofessional healthcare team.
Students will:
- Integrate professional ethics and behavior into clinical practice
- Function as part of the interprofessional healthcare team
- Participate in professional growth development
Certification Exams
All BS graduates are eligible to take the associated certification examinations of the organizations that oversee the concentration of study. Students who pass these examinations receive national certification. Dual-Concentration students may not be able to take certification exams until they receive their BS.
Depending on the concentration, sonography certification may be provided by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS), Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), or the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT)
Program Effectiveness
Program Effectiveness data is provided by the Program Director and is updated annually. Data collected November 2024
Note: The Program Effectiveness Data spreadsheet includes statistics from six (6) cohorts of students:
- Cohort 1: 1 year Abdomen-Extended & OB/GYN (ABOB)
- Cohort 2: 1 year Adult Echocardiography
- Cohort 3: 1 year Vascular
- Cohort 4: 2 year ABOB + Adult Echocardiography
- Cohort 5: 2 year ABOB + Vascular
- Cohort 6: 2 year Vascular + Adult Echocardiography
Accreditation
Thomas Jefferson University, Cardiac Sonography Program, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography.
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
9355 113th Street N., #7709
Seminole, FL 33775
727-210-2350
www.caahep.org
JRCDMS
6021 University Boulevard, Suite 500
Ellicott City, MD 21043
443-973-3251
JRCDMS@intersocietal.org