Exact Answer: 2 Years
There are multiple reasons why a person chooses a career. While some choose their careers for their passion, the love they have for the job, while some even choose jobs for the income they offer. There are millions of jobs in the world and the field not only runs based on the main positions but also the other minor ones. While just one person is enough to complete most of the chores at home, it takes so many people to get even the tiniest job done smoothly in the real world.
One of the lesser-known yet desired career choices is becoming a sonographer, which also offers a generous salary package. It is also a profession that requires only an associate degree to be officially qualified as a sonographer. There are many traits that a sonographer must have to excel in their profession and there are many reports that tell what a sonographer must do to complete the degree, where to work, what to expect and what their duties and much more.
It takes about two to four years to officially become a sonographer.
How Long Does It Take To Become A Sonographer?
| Steps | Time |
| Earning a certificate | 1 year to 18 months |
| Earning an associate degree | 18 months to 2 years |
| Earning a bachelor’s degree | 4 years |
Hundreds of articles online will help a person learn more about the career path one wants to pursue. In the field of medicine, there are many types of doctors, nurses, and many other specialists. One of the departments in medicine is sonography, and the experts who work there are called sonographers. Sonography is technically a non-invasive technique, which uses high-frequency sound waves.
Using these sound waves, clear visual images of the organs, tissues, body parts, and even blood flow inside the body can be produced.
Sonographic imaging is harmless and painless and sonographers are the experts who know details about the whole technique thoroughly and they help doctors get the images whenever they need. This technique is widely used in every aspect of medicine and has helped in diagnosing diseases and defects without surgically cutting the person open. A sonographer is a specialist who uses a transducer, which will produce sound waves into the body.
The sound waves produced will help the doctors visualize the anatomy, pathology, and physiology of the human body. Sonographers use this technique, create a video, and report it back to the doctors. Not only that, sonographers can become diagnostic medical sonographers by specializing in different parts of the body individually.
Why Does It Take That Long To Become A Sonographer?
Though ultrasounds and sonography use ultrasound technology, to become a sonographer, it is necessary to complete the training and get the certificates. Becoming a sonographer is very beneficial because, sonographers are in demand and they are paid a great starting salary, and it is also one of the advanced types of careers, though many people don’t know that.
There are paths to take to officially become a sonographer, yet the most commonly choose one, is the two-year degree, which is an accredited training program to become a sonographer. The two-year program will help them become an associate, and if they want to train further, they can always choose the bachelor’s degree, which can take about 4 years to complete. On the other hand, if someone wants to complete the degree as fast as they could, they can always choose the 1-year certificate program.
There are many other factors that a person should know and take care of before pursuing a career in sonography. Accreditation is very important and the CAAHEP has accredited 150 programs, which also includes the courses and programs offered in the training programs offered by the hospitals, universities, and colleges.
Conclusion
The next thing to keep an eye on is the admission requirements. It is necessary to make sure to have completed all the courses that are required to get in the associate and bachelor programs. The three types of programs to become a sonographer, the one-year training program, the two years associate degree, and the four years bachelor’s degree all have different timelines and stages to pass.
One can easily get certified as a sonographer in just 12 to 18 months, but they can always choose the associate or bachelor’s degree in sonography if they want to learn more or specialize in a specific area particularly.
References
- https://www.onlinejase.com/article/S0894-7317(06)00355-5/abstract
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/8756479306288866
I’ve put so much effort writing this blog post to provide value to you. It’ll be very helpful for me, if you consider sharing it on social media or with your friends/family. SHARING IS ♥️
