The field of ultrasound is not really one that’s perfectly suited to online training programs since it is a largely hands on enterprise. Logging many hours of experiential clinical practice with ultrasound equipment is a mainstay of the educational process in this career area. Nevertheless, completing the lecture and basic study requirements online is still an option, and one that many find convenient for various reasons. How does all this work? Let’s take a look.
The classes you will take in an online ultrasound technician program are basically the electronic equivalent of in-class courses. Basic topics such as the physics of ultrasound technology, anatomy, physiology, diagnosis of medical conditions, patient care and so on will be covered. The instructor will provide the notes on the text you’re reading and a general daily or weekly outline of reading and homework. You will be expected to complete all the work in a timely fashion, though there is considerably greater flexibility in an online situation.
Text books are often ordered online. Usually they must still be actually purchased by the student rather than merely downloaded or viewed.
The hands on experience, more formally termed the clinical practicum is set up at community colleges, hospitals, or doctors’ offices in the student’s area. This allows the student to get the real world experience that is both necessary for an understanding of ultrasound equipment and required for ultrasound technician certification and employment. Obviously none of this occurs online – by definition it concerns real patients and experience with the full flow of work that an ultrasound technician encounters in an actual job situation.
There are some more practical areas, however, that can be effectively dealt with online. For instance, students can be emailed sample sectional images. These are the flat, cross sectional graphical images that are generated by ultrasound scans. A songrapher or ultrasound technician needs not only to be familiar with these types of images, but must also possess a deep understanding of anatomy, physiology, and diagnostic procedures as they relate to ultrasound data. They must know their anatomy very thoroughly in a cross-sectional graphical sense and the physiological and diagnostic significance of what the sectional images show. Though this all must eventually be practiced on actual patients, a fair portion of the “book work” and imageic analysis involved can be done through a distance learning type program. This can even have an advantage over classroom work in that a student may not feel as rushed, and so can better assimilate and get comfortable with viewing and analyzing ultrasound information.
A different sort of area that can be handled fairly easily online is that of medical ethics and law, safety issues, and so on. This is a requirement of ultrasound courses from a legal standpoint, since failing to adhere to ethical and safety standards could result in malpractice suits or even criminal prosecution. These standards require careful study, and again may even be easier to complete in an online type of context since there is extra space and time to really focus on it. This depends, of course, on what type of situation the student finds most conducive to concentration, but it’s a good bet that some will find in assimilation of course material easier without the distractions of classroom hustle and bustle.
Accreditation may be an issue with online programs. Check on the website of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAHEEP), at http://www.caahep.org/ for lists of accredited schools. Look under the categories Diagnostic Medical Sonographer as well as Cardiovascular Technologist on this site. At the time of this writing there appear to be three accredited online/distance learning programs that show up on the site as CAHEEP accredited: Washburn University in Topeka, KS, Jackson Community College inJackson, MI, and Mountain State University Beckley, WV. However do your own search and see what you find. In addition to searching on this site you can simply do an online search for accredited distance learning programs in ultrasound/sonography.
You can’t go the whole way to becoming an ultrasound technician online, but you can get a good background and the basic academic requirements taken care of this way. For some, this is the most convenient option or even the only approach that makes sense in terms of time or travel considerations. So if that applies to you, do some research and find a good program, preferably an accredited one, that can put you on the path to becoming qualified in this interesting and in-demand career.