Close

Main navigation

Diagnostic Medical Sonography – Echo Concentration

Associate of Applied Science

Overview

CSP offers a rigorous two-year Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography, which is designed to prepare students to work as sonographers within a health care team.
  • Echocardiography Concentration: this concentration focuses extensively on how the heart works in relation to the rest of the body and the patient’s overall health. Cardiac sonographers work closely with cardiologists to create a report on overall heart chamber size, function, relaxation, valve anatomy, and various disease processes.To continue learning about the Echo Concentration, find out more below.
  • General Concentration: this concentration involves learning how to scan all areas of the body, minus the heart. To learn more about this concentration please visit the DMS - General Concentration page.
DMS Admissions Requirements Required Courses

Program
Details

Program Length

70 Total Credits

Location

On Campus

ECHO Program Details

CSP has collaborated with Allina, one of the largest healthcare systems in the Midwest, to offer the Echocardiography Program. This 20-month program is designed to immerse students in clinical patient care training starting at the program’s onset. This setup allows students to apply their coursework directly to hands-on clinical experiences. Students learn alongside Allina’s cardiac sonographers, cardiologists, cardiac nurses, and other health care experts via current technologies, equipment, and procedures.

Upon completion of the Echo concentration, students will have completed close to 1,800 clinical hours, completed rotations through all cardiac specialty areas, and will be prepared to take their echo board exam.

  • Program start: Fall
  • Capacity: Up to 10 students each fall

MEET OUR Clinical Coordinator

Allina Health Logo

Allina Health Partnership

CSP is proud to partner with Allina Health to offer an echocardiography degree built on relevant curriculum and clinical experience.

Medical Sonographer $ 75,380

2021 Median Income

Job Growth Outlook, 2020-2030 14%

Faster Than Average

Where Our Alumni Work

Allina

Learn More About CSP

Undergraduate RFI

Name(Required)
May We Text You?
UTM Hidden Field Code //Create program name from url // Use window.onload to ensure the code runs after all page resources are loaded window.onload = function () { // Get the current URL const currentURL = window.location.href; // Find ".edu/" in the URL const eduIndex = currentURL.indexOf(".edu/"); if (eduIndex !== -1) { // Extract everything after ".edu/" and remove any query string const programNameWithQuery = currentURL.substring(eduIndex + 5); const programNameWithoutQuery = programNameWithQuery.split("?")[0]; // Set the value of the hidden input field by name const programNameField = document.querySelector('[name="program_name"]'); if (programNameField) { programNameField.value = programNameWithoutQuery; // Add an event listener to the input field to remove slashes programNameField.addEventListener("input", function () { this.value = this.value.replace(/\//g, ""); }); } } }; //Push cookied UTMs to hidden fields // Function to get the value of a cookie by its name. function getCookieValue(cookieName) { var name = cookieName + "="; var decodedCookies = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie); var cookieArray = decodedCookies.split(';'); for (var i = 0; i < cookieArray.length; i++) { var cookie = cookieArray[i].trim(); if (cookie.indexOf(name) === 0) { return cookie.substring(name.length, cookie.length); } } return ""; } // Function to populate form fields with UTM cookie values. function populateFormFields() { // Define a mapping of cookie names to form field names. var cookieFieldMap = { "utm_id": "cookie_utm_id", "utm_source": "cookie_utm_source", "utm_medium": "cookie_utm_medium", "utm_campaign": "cookie_utm_campaign", "utm_term": "cookie_utm_term", "utm_content": "cookie_utm_content", "utm_source_platform": "cookie_utm_source_platform", "utm_campaign_id": "cookie_utm_campaign_id" }; // Iterate through the cookie-field mapping and populate the form fields. for (var cookieName in cookieFieldMap) { var fieldName = cookieFieldMap[cookieName]; var fieldValue = getCookieValue(cookieName); // Find the form field by name and set its value. var field = document.getElementsByName(fieldName)[0]; // Assuming the first matching field. if (field) { field.value = fieldValue; // Log the field name, cookie name, and value to the console for testing. console.log("newcode #1"); console.log("Field Name: " + fieldName); console.log("Cookie Name: " + cookieName); console.log("Field Value: " + fieldValue); } else { // Log a message if the field is not found. console.log("Field not found for cookie: " + cookieName); } } } // Add an event listener for DOMContentLoaded to execute the code when the DOM is loaded. document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () { // Call the populateFormFields function on DOM load. populateFormFields(); }); // Add an event listener for form submission to log field values when the form is submitted. var form = document.forms[0]; // You might need to specify the correct form index. if (form) { form.addEventListener("submit", function (event) { // Log form field values before submitting the form. populateFormFields(); }); }

Meet our faculty/staff

Our world-class faculty use their decades of experience to nurture your success from the first day of class all the way to graduation— and beyond.

Student outcomes

CSP graduates are leaders and trailblazers. Meet some of our alumni below and see how they’re shaping the world.

DMS BOARDS, CAREERS, EMPLOYMENT, & OUTCOMES

  • Goal:

    To prepare competent entry-level cardiac sonographers in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains.
    Graduates from our program learn to:

    • Use critical decision-making skills to reach conclusions related to comprehensive patient care
    • Be able to obtain, review and integrate pertinent history and supporting clinical data to facilitate optimum diagnostic results.
    • Be able to perform appropriate procedures and record anatomical, pathological, and/or physiological data for interpretation by a physician
    • Follow oral and written prescribed instructions to carry out analytical procedures.
    • Able to assess and evaluate current scientific literature and synthesize information in a critical, scientific, and effective manner as it relates to the application of basic physics principles in Sonography.
    • Define and apply basic ultrasound physics and recognize and identify images where quality can be improved by modifying the application of US instruments and mode of operation.
    • Exhibit positive relationship skills via effective communication, respect for others, and awareness of their impact on others. The graduate must be able to demonstrate professional conduct and acceptance of constructive criticism.
  • Please click here to go to the university’s accreditation and licensing website, scroll to Licensing & Certifications, and review Diagnostic Medical Sonography details.

  • To be considered a Registered Sonographer, students will sit for the CCI RCS board or ARDMS board exams SPI (Ultrasound Physics) and a specialty board (AE). To find more information about these, visit here for CCI and go here for ARDMS.

    • Students will graduate with an AAS degree.
    • Graduates will be prepared to provide health care services as sonographers. A diagnostic medical sonographer works under the direction of a physician, using ultrasound imaging techniques for purposes of diagnosis.
    • Want to further your degree to land a management position in the future? Take CSP’s Bachelor of Healthcare Administration degree online at your own pace.
    • Students can work in a hospital, clinic, or become traveling sonographers.
    • If students want to work in a specialty area, on the job training is available to work in obstetrics (perinatal centers or maternal-fetal medicine), vascular(vascular centers and vein clinics), pediatrics (work in a children’s hospital), musculoskeletal (work with chiropractors or sports medicine), and breast (work in a breast center).
    • An AAS degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography can lead to management, education, and research. If students want to take their career away from scanning while still staying in a healthcare setting, there are opportunities to work with ultrasound equipment in applications, sales, and marketing.
  • CohortRetentionJob Placement RateCCI RCS or ARDMS AE Pass
    Fall 22 Grads100%100%100%

Accreditation

The Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program (Echo Concentration) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of JRC-DMS.

Find out more about CSP’s accreditation on our Accreditation & Licensing website.