Home > Diagnostic Medical Sonography – Echo Concentration
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.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography Info Sessions
Our sessions will include a comprehensive overview of our DMS program, including admissions requirements, program application details, and clinical training information.
- Virtual sessions will be held on Zoom
- On-campus sessions will take place in the CSP Office of Admissions
- Sign up to attend the session that works best for you – or attend multiple sessions!
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
Allina Health Partnership
CSP is proud to partner with Allina Health to offer an echocardiography degree built on relevant curriculum and clinical experience.
Career Information
Data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Where Our Alumni Work
Allina Health
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DMS BOARDS, CAREERS, EMPLOYMENT, & Program Effectiveness Data
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Goal:
To prepare competent entry-level sonographers in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains for the following concentration(s) it offers:
- Abdominal sonography – Extended
- Obstetrics and gynecology sonography
- Adult cardiac sonography
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.
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Please click here to go to the university’s accreditation and licensing website, scroll to Licensing & Certifications, and review Diagnostic Medical Sonography details.
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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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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View current program effectiveness data (PDF).
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.