Home > Diagnostic Medical Sonography – General 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 as part of a health care team.
- General Concentration: this concentration involves extensive abdominal, obstetric, and gynecologic coursework along with the basic competencies of vascular, interventional procedures, superficial structures, and patient care. To continue learning about the General Concentration, find out more below.
- 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 learn more about this concentration please visit the DMS - Echocardiography 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!
General Program Details
CSP’s General Concentration Sonography program is offered via hybrid delivery. Students also utilize open lab time for extra practice. This program requires significant in-person time for classes and open lab practice time to ensure students become proficient at the skills and competencies needed to become successful health care professionals.
Students complete three semesters of learning the foundational concepts of ultrasound, one semester of comprehensive review, and a six-month clinical training, all of which prepare students to sit for their boards to become Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographers.
- Program starts: Fall and Spring
- Capacity: 12 students per start
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Career Information
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DMS Boards, Careers, Employment, & Program Effectiveness Data
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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 ARDMS board exams SPI (Ultrasound Physics) and a specialty board (Ab or Ob). To find more information about these, click here.
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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 (General 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.