r/Ultrasound

Hello,
I am a grade 12 student in Ontario and I recently came across cardiac sonography. I find it interesting and I found a college that I can apply to with a high school diploma. I saw that other colleges need a bachelors degree b4 applying to cardiac sonography but Hart College in Scarborough Toronto doesn’t.
Does any1 know anything abt it or has graduated from it? Is it accredited and can I get a job after graduating from it? Is there any better college that I can apply to w a hs diploma?

First of all I’m sorry if this is the wrong place to post this it’s my first Reddit post and time using Reddit but I need answers/advice. I am 25 years old and I have a testicle ultrasound coming up and am nervous about multiple things such as: am I going to be completely naked down there or do I wear anything to cover up? Is it going to be just one person in the room/doing the ultrasound? I have had a little BB gun ball sized ball around in the right side of my sack for awhile now but never said anything because I was nervous but I had a normal checkup after not going to the doctors for years and thought I’d ask him to check it to see what it was and if I should be worried. When he was checking down there I got a boner and held it towards me with my hand while he checked and was extremely embarrassed. He didn’t seem to mind much but I was so embarrassed about it and I’m not really used to being touched down there but it wasnt that I was aroused by him touching me I think it was just awkward and embarrassing that someone else was seeing me down there and it happened. He scheduled a testicle ultrasound for me and throughout the days of me waiting for the ultrasound I found what feel like a super tiny lump on my left testicle and at some times I can feel tension in my balls when I walk so idk if I should be more nervous about that too. I am like EXTREMELY nervous about getting another boner during the ultrasound because I just have a high feeling it will happen let alone the fact that one or potentially more people will see my balls, maybe penis, and potential boner. Advice? Tips?

Hello! I recently had an ultrasound on my liver, gallbladder and kidneys. Is it normal for the person doing the ultrasound (a nurse practitioner, if it matters), to put their notes in with the images and that they might be different from the doctor who later reviews them?

I looked through the ultrasound images and in the final blank image it says:

>Heterogeneously/echogenic Liver;
Hypoechoic solid liver nodule
Big Panc Dct;
GB Polyp
No Murphy

But in the text of my medical record, it says "The liver is normal in echogenicity and size..." and "The visualized pancreas is normal. No pancreatic ductal dilatation is visualized" and then mentions the liver spot and GB polyp.

My question is basically if these two sets of text are in conflict and if I should bring this up to my doctor. Perhaps to ask the ultrasound doc to confirm?

Thanks for any guidance you can provide!

Has anyone had their interview for the July Cohort ? Or any past students know what to expect?

So I want to join sonography school! I’m 25 with no bachelors or career of any kind, just a job. Unfortunately I went through university and a couple of community colleges not knowing what I wanted and earning bad grades. Some of my marks aren’t terrible but definitely not competitive enough to get accepted to a program immediately I feel like. Can anyone who didn’t have good grades like multiple Bs and Cs share their journey if there’s anyone out there like that?

Also does anyone from Texas have good recommendations for a school or institute for sonography? Cardiac or diagnostic as I haven’t chose what I want to specialize in. Maybe even one with a slightly graceful acceptance rate?? lol

I recently went through a difficult pregnancy loss and the ultrasounds were extremely difficult/painful emotionally at that time. I then found out I was pregnant again and the tech I have had for this pregnancy is absolutely wonderful. I told my husband that if we were to have gotten bad news at this dating scan, I would’ve wanted it to come from her. She is just so gentle and kind. She speaks so soft and comforting. I genuinely don’t think I would’ve been able to go through with the last two scans if it weren’t for her.

With all that being said how do I thank her. As a nurse we can nominate for daisys and stuff like that, is there anything for ultrasound?

If this isn't allowed, please feel free to take down but after thanking my techs throughout my cancer journey I realize how unbelievably wonderful the folks choosing to do this profession are.

I have cancer and I have to get nonstop pelvic ultrasounds. I'm always bleeding! Like always. And it isn't the little spots here and there, it's graphic (hence the reason I have to get them). I'm always handled with patience and kindness and it means the world to me.

It's embarrassing but I am never made to feel that way so thank you to all those doing pelvic ultrasounds on us violently bleeding souls. 🩵

Hello, I almost about to graduate highschool and torn between whether I should get a bachelor's or associates for a ultraound program in my area. They say minimum of an associate degree, but that feels like the bare minimum when applying and I think I won't be able to get in because I would seem less qualified with an associate degree (when i eventually aquire it) compared to applicants with a bachelors.

So in order to be more desirable I am thinking of going into a 4 year university to get a bachelors in health science. But the issue is financial aid. A family friend said only financial aid they would get offered for the ultrasound program i also plan to attend is federal loans, because they already got grants when they attended their 4 year uni with the same bachelor's i plan to pursue.

I was thinking about community college before the 4 year because its cheaper and faster, but my counselor and other peopl suggested a bachelors because most jobs nowadays require one. But I wouldnt really need financial aid in CC, and could instead get some grants on the Ultraound program ($60,000) and wouldn't have to take out that much loans.

My main issue, as seen from the title is that Im not sure if id get in with just an associates, i think that's a pretty competitive program.

(My first ever post on here, srry about the formatting, also for context i live in norcal)

Hello! Im in my first week of sonography school. I had my gallbladder taken out a few years ago and I didn’t think it would be an issue, but when we’ve been practicing scanning I notice I’m a lot more sensitive to the probe than other students. On top of that with having my gallbladder removed I’m a lot more bloated and gassy than the average person.

Is this going to impact my schooling? Has anyone had past surgeries that’s gone on to do sonography school and it’s been okay? Should I bring this up to my instructor? I’m hoping I’ll just get more used to someone scanning me but the first day I was pretty uncomfortable.

I got an IUD over a year ago and it is not functioning as expected. When I mentioned this to my GYN doctor at my yearly wellness appointment, she stated I could get an ultrasound to confirm placement is accurate. However, since my BMI is in the obese range, she said I will have to go to the hospital for the ultrasound because the ultrasound tables at their practice cannot hold over 250 pounds. Does this sound like a legitimate reason? They have the standard metal exam tables typically found at doctor’s offices that they use to perform the pelvic exams without any weight issues. Is there a reason that one of those metal exam tables can’t be used during ultrasounds?

Hello, sonographers! I (28F) need your opinions. I'm set to start my 18-month accredited cardiovascular program in July. The first year of the program is just cardiac, and at the end of that first year, we are eligible to take our RDCS or CCI and get registered. The next 6 months focus on vascular, but we won't get enough clinical hours by the end of those 6 months to take our RVT.

When I originally applied to the 18-month program, I thought those 6 months of vascular would make me more marketable in the long term, but I really am more interested in cardiac at the end of the day. Last week, I decided to email my program director to see if it would even be an option to switch from the cardiovascular program to the cardiac program, and she got back to me this morning and let me know that I can switch if I want; I just need to let her know soon so she can generate an updated enrollment agreement. Herein lies my dilemma.

I'm moving from Kansas to Alabama for this program, and my boyfriend will be coming with me and will be financially supporting us through the duration. We're used to being a 2-income household, so this will be a lot of financial stress on him, and we'll be going into debt from the program itself and everything, so I started wondering if it would be better for me to be done in a year and be able to get a job sooner. Now I'm conflicted. I want to be able to get in the field asap, but I worry that I'll be less of a competitive candidate if I don't have vascular experience.

With your experience/from your perspective:

• Would it be inherently easier for me to get a job with some vascular experience but without my RVT when I'm applying?
• Is there a significant pay difference from being RDCS to being both RDCS and RVT?
• Would I be able to get vascular training on the job later on and take my registry then if I didn't explicitly train on it in school?
• What would you do in my situation, and what's your reasoning?

Because I'm not in the field yet, I really don't know how much this would impact my future marketability. I want to make sure I'm making the best decision for myself while also keeping in mind the sacrifices my boyfriend is making for me to be able to go back to school at all. Right now, we live paycheck to paycheck, and I want to help get us out of this hole. We're willing to move wherever after school, so that's not a limitation. We plan on getting married after school, and then once I'm comfortably settled into a job in the field, he's going back to school as well, so we can make a better life for ourselves. Is it better to get into the workforce as soon as I can, or should I just go all in for the 18 months? Please help!!

I have one more semester of my bachelor’s degree in biology. So far I’ve been focused on going to vet school but I’ve started to doubt it and am learning more about ultrasound techs. After I get my bachelors, is there another program I would enroll in? How long is it? How much does it cost? One of the main reasons I’m doubting vet school is due to it being another 4 years before I’m in the workforce and the insane amount of debt I would have from school. Is the schooling/job gross? I’m okay with animal blood and guts but not sure with humans. I’m just now learning about ultrasound techs so any info is appreciated!

Hi guys!
I am just wondering if anyone who applied to the general ultrasound program in san jose that starts in july have heard anything back about interviews or anything?

Preferably near Pomana/Upland area? I want to do it then go to med-school!

I just wanted to see if anyone has any advice about paying for school. I’m currently 24, single and paying for everything by myself. My program is 18 months for about $27000 not including scrubs, books, etc. I don’t really have any family or anything to lean on and I’m nervous that even with my Pell grant and loans I will still fall short. I’ve been told that this program is like a full time job with classes and clinicals. I was going to try to work about 15 hours a week if I could just to be able to pay rent, but I’m not sure what else to do. I’ve heard such bad things about Sallie Mae loans and I was just wondering if anyone had any guidance they can offer me? Anything is helpful thank you!!

Hello, curious if anyone has any comments for my recent experience at an outpatient diagnostics centre.
I (32F) have kidney stones and see a urologist. In March I had my most recent stone/renal colic. My dr ordered an outpatient pelvic u/s. Sometimes my stones stay stuck in the bladder. I’ve also had a cyst on my ovary recently so my dr was looking to confirm whether this is a stone or a cyst causing me to have 10/10 pelvic pain and blood in my urine. We only have 1 outpatient ultrasound place in my area.

It took 4 weeks, 4 phone calls (20 min each) and 3 faxes for the centre to receive my drs requisition. Then they called and booked me in the next morning at 8:45am and told me empty my bladder at 6:45am and to finish drinking 1L of water by 7:45am. I had to take vacation for the first 3 hours of my work day to accommodate this.

I arrive there and myself and other patients are lost looking for the centre inside a mall. Security helped us and said nobody can find it easily.

I arrive 5 mins early and check in. I told them it was hard to locate them “ya ya everyone complains about that- nobody ever asks us how our morning is going!” Said the receptionist who then snickered with her coworkers. It was very uncomfortable.

I get called back and after they place the ultrasound on my stomach for three seconds I’m told “you didn’t drink enough” and “you have to leave and call back to rebook another time”. I told her I had to take time off work for this test. She didn’t care. I wait 20 mins on hold and I’m rebooked in late JUNE.. for a problem I had in March.

I got a text asking how my experience was. I filled out the survey and the next day I’m called by a manager and she left a voicemail asking me to call her back. I called 3 times and still haven’t reached anyone.

Is this normal practice?