Cardiovascular Sonographer

The Cardiovascular Sonography program at Sanford Brown College, San Antonio (SBC) is designed to prepare the students to perform echocardiographic examinations under the direction of a physician / cardiologist. Students gain both didactic knowledge and practical experience in cardiovascular science, EKG, holter monitoring, telemetry, and echocardiography. The students will have the opportunity to study the anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of the organ systems, recognize the EKG patterns of infarction, arrhythmia recognition, appreciate emergency protocols, and perform echocardiography. The core curriculum is structured to include an lecture component, an imaging laboratory component, and a clinical component. The final externship portion of the curriculum is structured to include supervised experiences in the clinical environment that require competencies, logs, and evaluations completed by the student. At the conclusion of the program, graduates who have diligently attended class and their externship, studied, and practiced their skills should have the skills to seek entry-level employment as cardiovascular sonographers.

ACCREDITATION/CERTIFICATION INFORMATION DISCLOSURE

Accreditation is a voluntary process which may be undertaken by schools to demonstrate compliance with specific standards designed to indicate a level of education quality. SBC is institutionally accredited (accredited in total) by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), a national accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (DOE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). This indicates that SBC substantially meets or exceeds the stated criteria of education quality established by ACICS, and approved by the DOE and CHEA. This recognition of institutional accreditation by ACICS entitles SBC to offer Title IV Financial Assistance to students who qualify.

An additional form of accreditation that a school may undertake to obtain is a specific, individual accreditation of certain programs (programmatic accreditation). Institutional accreditation is not the same as or a substitution for programmatic accreditation. Although programmatic accreditation is not required for employment in many cases, the existence of programmatic accreditation is a further indication that a program meets the standards of the profession, and may therefore indirectly enhance employment opportunities. Also, in some cases, programmatic accreditation will allow the graduates of the accredited program to sit for some credentialing exams immediately upon graduation without any requirement of work experience. The Cardiovascular Technology program is not programmatically accredited.

Graduates of the Cardiovascular Sonography program are encouraged to take the credentialing examinations offered by Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI) and the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS). These exams are voluntary but obtaining this credential does enhance employment opportunities. Graduates are eligible to apply for the Certified Cardiographic Technician (CCT) and Registered Cardiac Sonographer (RCS) examinations offered by CCI upon graduation, and to apply for the Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (RDMS) exam offered by ARDMS after acquiring the necessary experience after graduation as defined by the ARDMS. Registration and certification requirements for taking and passing these examinations are not controlled by SBC but by outside agencies and are subject to change by the agency without notice. Therefore, SBC cannot guarantee that graduates will be eligible to take these exams, at all or at any specific time, regardless of their eligibility status upon enrollment.

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