Student on Sonography Machine

Diagnostic Medical Sonography - Goal and Mission Statement

To prepare competent entry-level sonographers in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains for the Abdominal sonography - Extended and Obstetrics and gynecology sonography concentrations.

What You'll Learn

 

An Oregon Tech degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography will prepare you to use diagnostic medical ultrasound equipment to direct high frequency sound waves into areas of a patient's body to generate an image for the assessment and diagnosis of various medical conditions. Sonography is commonly associated with obstetrics and the use of ultrasound imaging during pregnancy, but this technology has many other applications in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions throughout the body.

Viewing the screen during the scan, sonographers look for subtle visual cues that contrast healthy areas with unhealthy ones. They decide whether the images are satisfactory for diagnostic purposes and select which ones to store and show to the physician. Sonographers take measurements, calculate values, and analyze the results in preliminary findings for the physicians.

Diagnostic medical sonographers may specialize in obstetric and gynecologic sonography (images of the female reproductive system), abdominal sonography (images of the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, spleen, and pancreas), neurosonography (images of the brain and other parts of the nervous system), breast Sonography, or additional areas of specialization. 

  • Obstetric and gynecologic sonographers specialize in the imaging of the female reproductive system. Included in the discipline is one of the more well-known uses of sonography: examining the fetus of a pregnant woman to track the baby's growth and health.
  • Abdominal sonographers inspect a patient's abdominal cavity to help diagnose and treat conditions primarily involving the gallbladder, bile ducts, kidneys, liver, pancreas, spleen, and male reproductive system. Abdominal sonographers also are able to scan parts of the chest, although studies of the heart using sonography usually are done by echocardiographers.
  • Breast sonographers use sonography to study diseases of the breasts. Sonography aids mammography in the detection of breast cancer. Breast sonography also is used to track tumors, monitor blood supply conditions, and assist in the accurate biopsy of breast tissue. Breast sonographers use high-frequency transducers made exclusively to study breast tissue (Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2010).

Oregon Tech Offers

  • Full time clinical externship during the student's senior year.
  • Extensive on-campus, in-lab scanning utilizing leading-edge technology.
  • Engaged faculty involved in student’s hands-on imaging/learning opportunities during on-campus courses.
  • Professionalism within practice is embedded into coursework so graduates are better prepared to be successful healthcare professionals.

Outcomes

Oregon Tech gives students relevant experiences, a lot of one-on-one professor-student education, and industry experience to be competitive in this high demand field. Oregon Tech graduates have excellent opportunities for employment in hospitals, clinics, private practice and state and federal agencies. By 2024 this field will employ 24% more people than currently in the workforce, which is much faster than average growth. (bls.gov, June 2017)

 

 

 

 

 

Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science

Accreditation

CAAHEP

The Diagnostic Medical Imaging (DMS) program is accredited by CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Educational Programs) www.caahep.org upon the recommendation of the Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography.

CAAHEP Mailing address:
9355 - 113th St. N, #7709
Seminole, FL 33775

P:727-210-2350

F:727-210-2354
E: mail@caahep.org

ARDMS

Oregon Tech graduates have a high pass rate board certification American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) board exams. http://www.ardms.org/

Students in the medical imaging programs develop strong technical and communication skills through small class and lab sizes. Creating close relationships with peers and professors allows students to form effective study sessions, leading to 100% pass rate on the ARDMS (American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography) certification board exams for the past 10 years.

Sonography Students Using Technology
Sonography machine being used by students
New Sonography Machines at Oregon Tech
Klamath Falls
Tia Lardizabal
Student, Class of 2027
“Inspired by my personal experience with my mother's diagnosis of thyroid cancer, deciding on a career in Sonography caught my interest. I met a local hospital Ultrasound Tech who was coincidentally an Oregon Tech Alumni. Her experiences convinced me to pursue this field and aligned with my strengths.”
97%
Employed
$70,000
Starting Graduate Salary