Best Colleges for Becoming an Ultrasound Technician
If you are planning on becoming an ultrasound technician, you will need to start looking for a college to attend. Obtaining a good education is the first step needed toward a rewarding and profitable career as an ultrasound technician. There are many schools in North America that teach ultrasound or sonography and the one you choose to enroll in will be dependent upon your budget, location and personal preferences.
Knowing a few of the best colleges that offer highly recommended sonography programs can give you a standard to judge other schools by. Here are a few top colleges you might want to consider enrolling in.
The Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is located in Los Angeles, California. You can earn a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic medical sonography at this university. The bachelor’s program is fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs or CAAHEP as well as by other major accrediting organizations. You will have to pay over $450 per credit hour if you enroll at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science which is about average in today’s economy.
Seattle University is another top choice. Seattle University offers a bachelor’s degree in medical sonography. This too is an CAHEEP accredited program that consists of 181 credit hours. You must maintain a 2.5 grade point average to remain in this program and the coursework consists of a combination of classroom, clinical and laboratory study. You will need to provide the university with two letters of recommendation and are required to write a personal essay before being considered for acceptance.
Newman University in Wichita, Kansas is another sound choice to consider. This school offers a 4-year sonography program wherein you can earn a bachelor’s degree. There is a good deal of clinical work involved in earning a degree from this university as well as the typical amount of classroom studies. The only catch to this school’s sonography program is that you must have completed an RN nursing program prior to applying and you also must possess an associate’s degree in a related area of the healthcare industry. While the admission requirements are strict at Newman, students who have earned bachelor’s degrees in sonography from this school have a rather easy time finding employment.
Ferris State University is a public university located in the small mid-Michigan town of Big Rapids. Ferris State offers a 2-year associate of applied science degree in sonography. This school’s sonography program is CAHEEP accredited and approved by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists or ARRT. The program offers instruction in the specialties of obstetric, gynecological and abdominal ultrasound.
These are a few of the top-rated colleges and universities offering good degree programs in ultrasound technology. There are scores of other schools offering ultrasound technician training. However, you should know that finding a program that is CAHEEP accredited would be to your advantage as employers will almost always choose the job candidate who has received his/her education from an CAHEEP accredited program over the candidate who did not.