Your Typical Day as a Sonographer

Diagnostic medical sonographers are a vital part of the healthcare team and save lives every day. While they may not be performing surgery or treating health challenges directly, their ability to understand the power of ultrasound, utilize the equipment and technology to provide guidance to doctors and support to patients, are essential to proper diagnosis and life-enhancing care.

If you’re exploring a career as a medical sonographer (or ultrasound technologist) – a career that proves to be both meaningful and lucrative – then what better way to see if it’s a fit for you than to visualize and ‘experience’ a typical day in your new life.

Your Day Begins …

Arriving at least one hour before your first scheduled patient, you settle into your space. Setting your coffee down and turning on your computer and the ultrasound machine(s), you wipe down and sanitize all your equipment, surfaces, and patient bed (essential during this time of COVID, as you well know). Depending on where you work, you may have portable machines and equipment that use different cameras for different tests. You ensure all is working efficiently and set up the cameras in keeping with the type of exam(s).

Next you review your calendar for the day, the flow of your appointments ahead and respond to your various emails from staff and, depending on your level of position, referrals and any referrers inquiries. In organizing your room and your day, you’re able to clear your plate and your mind to be able to focus on your patients as they arrive and need your full attention.

Your Day’s Flow …

You will see, on average, 8 – 17 patients in a day and the typical processes are as follows:

• Review of a patient’s chart before they arrive, and any doctor’s notes provided
• Once the patient arrives there is the introduction and taking some time to learn about their background and medical history
• Explanation of the examination and how the procedure will flow, making sure they feel comfortable and able to ask questions
• Conducting the diagnostic ultrasound
• Once you have completed taking the number of quality images needed, you then clear up any final questions the patient may have, and the exam is complete
• The final piece is recording the information gathered and forwarding images and details to either the radiologist or the doctor for their examination and diagnosis.

The Day’s Challenges and Rewards

You are the face of professionalism, with just the right amount of personal care to ensure the patient feels properly cared for and compassionately supported. This isn’t always easy, especially in the fast-paced environment that healthcare can be.

Some of the challenges you face can be:

• Seeing what you know to be a serious health concern and having to keep smiling and be supportive, allowing the diagnosis to come from the doctor
• Keeping pace with a patient load that requires you to be fresh and accurate, often having worked long hours with fewer breaks than you perhaps would like
• You are often standing or physically supporting patients through the process, so you need to be strong and have terrific stamina.

Some of the amazing rewards you experience:

• Ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure that allows for results without pain; patients are often relieved to have an exam that doesn’t hurt and can be done quite quickly
• With your compassion comes gratitude. As patients needing exams are often apprehensive or even scared about a potential diagnosis, your kindness makes them feel a moment of relief and support
• It is true that you’ll often have the chance to view new life, as you perform ultrasounds on expectant mothers, but ultrasound is also used for a variety of reasons that mean diagnosis can be made sooner and treatment started more quickly. This is a good feeling, to know that every day your work and service in the world makes a profound, even life-saving difference.

Take the “Medical Professional Career Discovery Quiz”

If you’re ready to make this your typical day, apply your passion for technology and service to a field that’s expanding and evolving in leaps and bounds, then contact one of our Admissions Advisors today and we’ll get you started.

Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!

We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:
• Anderson College Announces Launch of Diagnostic Medical Sonographer Program (newswire.ca)
• 5 Brilliant Reasons to Become a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (DMS)
• Diagnostic Medical Sonographer Program at Anderson College
• A Day in the Life of a Sonographer (conquestimaging.com)
• A day in the life of a Sonographer (vista-health.co.uk)