I don't know anything about Sanford Brown - so I don't know what kind of
equipment they have or how much of the "real world" of ultrasound they get
to experience. I've seen colleges that teach ultrasound and the inhouse
equipment is usually pretty old and not well serviced - that may not be a
REALLY bad thing because there is still a lot of old and not well serviced
equipment being used in doctor offices, clinics, and even many hospitals.
The advantage of choosing a teaching institute based in a hospital is that
she will get to know hospital politics, the moodiness of doctors, the
variety of patients, and the operations of a radiology or cardiology
department. They may even hire her upon completion of the course. The only
two really good ones I can think of in Florida are kind of far from the two
of you - that being Shands in Gainsville and Florida Hospital in Orlando. I
don't have much experience with Jacksonville.
Not living in Jacksonville myself, I cannot really recommend any teaching
institute in your area, but I do recommend making some phone calls to the
ultrasound (radiology) and echo (cardiology) departments and ask the techs
about good schools in the area. Just call the operator of the hospital and
ask for "Ultrasound" or "Echo Lab" - if asked, say you just want to speak
with a tech about their machine. You could even go as far as to ask for
some way to contact the person who services their equipment and ask them for
a recommendation.
If she does choose this career I would say that the more she learns, the
better chances of doing well. While it may sound like a big bite to chew,
learning all modalities (radiology, cardiology, and vascular) will put her
in greater demand. Don't forget, there are other positions that can be
available to a good tech with experience - that being mobile services,
equipment sales, and application instructors (not normally available to a
new tech). Average techs can probably do $20K to $40K. Above average techs
can double that. Energetic techs who make a name for themselves can make
six figures if they really work at it - that would probably mean you and her
wouldn't be married anymore...
There seems to be some things they don't teach in any of the schools, so
I'll mention them here. The ultrasound machine is part of her job - if it
doesn't work, she can't do her job - that is not always the fault of
service. This is a delicate instrument. I don't mean to scare her, but it
would be nice if she was just a bit familiar with electrical, electronics,
and networking - nothing big - for example: 1. Do not jerk the plug out of
the wall by the cord. It can cause all kinds of problems and be one of the
things that drives her service rep into the ground. 2. Be carefull with
the probes. Clean them after every use or at least wipe them off before
returning them to the holder - even if in the middle of a scan. These
things cost anywhere from $1K to $20K to replace. Accidental damage is not
usually covered by a service contract and is also a major head banger for
the service rep because nobody likes to get smacked with a $10K bill when
they've already spent $12K for a service contract. 3. What is seen on the
monitor is not what is being sent to the camera or workstation - therefore,
it is important to learn how to adjust the monitor. The number of service
calls per year placed just because of a maladjusted monitor is unbelievable.
4. Keep the machine and the filters clean else the controls begin to get
messed up with dust/gell soup and the insides can burn up with a clogged
filter. Hospitals have an incredible amount of dust. Gell and dust are the
enemies of an ultrasound system. One thing that helps is to make it a
practice to scan with one hand and operate the machine with the other -
never touch the machine with the scanning hand - that helps keep gel off of
the machine. 5. Treat the service rep like a human being.
Ultrasound Service Representatives are usually spred pretty thin. They can
be responsible for the proper operation of over 150 systems in a large area.
This puts them constantly on dangerous roads with a cell phone in their ear,
an occasional cheese burger in the left hand with fries between their legs
and an open laptop at their right in the seat next to them as they haul-butt
down the road to the next service call. They drive with their elbows and
thighs. Everybody is their boss - including their spouse. They get
screamed at (laughed at, flirtted with, threatened, and stabbed in the back)
from every angle at every account they service - and they never get
mentioned in TV soap operas. These and other things make the service rep
very fragile... so please be gentle with the service person :-)
Some folks are nice. It is easy to be nice to nice people.
Does she still want to get into Ultrasound? The big thing about medicine
and money is - do you care and what do you care about?
"Chris" <dudeman
...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
...
> My wife is looking into Sonography as a career choice. We are in
> Jacksonville, FL and there is a school here called the Sanford Brown
> Institute that offers a 16-20 month program in Diagnostic Medical
> Sonography.
> e
> Basically, I'm wondering would such a program would provide her with
> the necessary skills to land a position in the Sonography field upon
> graduation? If so, what type of position? Not being familiar with
> the school and the medical field, I'm a bit skeptical as to the
> marketability of such a program. Is that a typical program someone
> would take to get into the Sonography field?
> She is very interested in the Sonography field and I think she would
> do very well. Any information on the topic is appreciated. Thanks!
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