Career brochure from Sloan Career Cornerstone Center (pdf)

Description of Occupation - A cardiac sonographer, or echocardiographer, is a highly specialized and knowledgeable health care professional who is educated and trained to perform diagnostic and imaging procedures at the request of the physician to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients with cardiac disease. The echocardiographer utilizes ultrasound equipment that transmits sound waves and then collects echoes to form an image on a viewing screen. The echocardiographer must be proficient in different ultrasound modalities including M-mode, 2-Dimensional, Spectral Doppler, and Color Doppler imaging. Credentials held by registered echocardiographers include RDCS and RCS.

The echocardiographer requires specialized technical skills, critical thinking and problem solving ability, and medical knowledge including anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology to render quality patient care; must be able to correlate related patient data, apply physics principles in order to obtain optimal images for rendering a diagnosis, and develop differential diagnoses based on patient history and examination findings.

Employment Outlook
Cardiac Sonography - Excellent. Physician office practices where cardiac diagnostic testing occurs, and hospital and clinic cardiac diagnostic labs.

Salary Ranges for Geographical Area
$63,179 median salary for echocardiograph technician in Lancaster (zip 17602) from www.salary.com May 2012

Educational Advancement
The program is designed to lead directly to an occupation and is not intended for transfer. Franklin University offers a BS in Allied  Healthcare Management and Shippensburg University offers a BS in Healthcare Administration. Immaculata University offers an accelerated BA in Health Care Management (classes in accelerated format and held at HACC's Lancaster Campus).

Related Websites For Additional Information About The Career
Career Infonet with salary and job outlook statistics, career video and licensing requirements
US Dept of Labor Occupational Handbook
American Society of Echocardiography
Ultrasound Careers
Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals (Select Careers at the top of the page)
Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers