If you decide to learn and become a cardiac sonographer, you will enjoy quite a paycheck compared to the amount of work you do. This is an excellent guide on how to become a cardiac sonographer.
how to become a echo tech
Steps to Becoming a Cardiac Sonographer
Cardiac sonographers perform ultrasounds of the heart and only the heart. (Other ultrasound professionals perform vascular, prenatal, or other imaging exams.) Professionals in this field, also called “echocardiography,” help physicians diagnose, monitor, and rule out problems such as cardiovascular disease or heart defects. They can also conduct imaging during heart procedures, called intraprocedural echoes, to help guide physicians in procedures such as a valve replacement.
Find and complete an educational program (associate or bachelor’s degree).
A two- or four-year degree in a field related to echocardiography will prepare you for the profession. This education includes classroom, lab, and clinical work. You can look for programs or majors in cardiac ultrasound, cardiovascular technology, or ultrasound. Note that ultrasound careers branch off in three directions: cardiac, vascular (veins and blood vessels), and general (which includes everything else, including fetal). Each has its own certification process.
Pass a national or international board exam to become certified.
Cardiac sonographers must pass a board exam administered by the National Board of Echocardiography, Cardiovascular Credentialing International, or the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography. You will take an exam specific to the branch of echocardiography you have chosen—adult, pediatric, or fetal.
Find a job that’s right for you.
Look for positions that match your priorities in setting, location, salary, benefits, and opportunity for growth.
Keep up with your continuing education requirements.
To maintain your certification, you will need to take continuing education courses specific to echocardiography.
Cardiac Sonographer Job Duties
A cardiac sonographer works directly with patients. Churchill estimates that she spends six hours of an eight-hour shift working with patients and conducting ultrasounds.
Performing an ultrasound typically follows this process:
- Check in the patient.
- Ensure patient has changed into a medical gown and secured their belongings.
- Settle patient in a private ultrasound room, explain the test.
- Perform the cardiac ultrasound.
- Explain next steps.
- Ensure patient can change back into their clothes and collect their belongings.
- Clean and ready the ultrasound room for the next patient.
This process takes between 30 and 60 minutes.
The other portion of a cardiac sonographer’s workday centers on writing reports of ultrasound tests. This includes measurements, calculations, and a verbal description of what they saw. The physician will read these reports and watch videos to make a diagnosis and create a plan for the patient.
What Does a Cardiac Ultrasound Entail?
An ultrasound of the heart is like any other ultrasound: A sonographer applies gel to the area to be imaged. They then roll a probe—the tool that sends out sound waves that bounce off objects like the heart—over the area. The ultrasound machine interprets those waves as images. The sonographer takes still images, video, and notes throughout the exam.
A sonographer uses an imaging tool during the ultrasound to map the part of the body—like the heart—being examined.
All cardiac ultrasounds include standard “views” of the heart, or pictures and video clips at different angles. The bulk of the process is “targeting the exam to answer a specific question,” Churchill explains. “We cater the exam based on what brought in the patient.” Exams differ between someone with a heart murmur and another person with plaque buildup in the arteries, for example.
“It’s a common misconception that we don’t know what we’re looking at during an ultrasound, and that the doctor is going to interpret the images,” Churchill says. “In reality, we interpret what we see as we go. We change protocol to better evaluate what we find during the echo, in real time.”
