The question that this title poses is one that have occurred to you as you have considered which diagnostic medical sonography school to attend. Accreditation by some kind of national or regional accreditation organization would seem to be a good recommendation for a school. But how important is it actually that you attend an accredited school if you are going for a degree or certificate in diagnostic medical sonography? There are a few common misconceptions here that should be cleared up.

CAAHEP

One of the primary national accrediting bodies that deals with ultrasound or sonography is the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). This organization, according to the Unites States Bureau of Labor Statistics has to date accredited more than 150 diagnostic medical sonography training programs nationwide. CAAHEP accredited programs tend to be well regarded.

Accreditation and Certification

At the outset it should be stated that one of the main issues with accreditation concerns certification. A national organization called the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) offers certification exams which result in the Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS) professional designation. This can help a sonographer to get a job and in general is a good step to take professionally.

There are certain eligibility requirements that must be met in order to qualify for the exams offered by this organization. One of these is that student needs to complete an educational program. There are a number of different stipulations and eligibility requirement pathways for becoming eligible for an exam. But the upshot in a general sense is that if a program is nationally accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the appropriate federal government agencies such as the Council for Higher Education and Accreditation (CHEA), the United States Department of Education (USDOE) or the Canadian Medical Association, an individual does not need any clinical field experience to qualify to take the RDMS exam. CAAHEP is not the only such accrediting organization, but it is one of the most well known ones. If a student completes a program that is not accredited, clinical work of 1 year is required in order form someone to qualify to take the exam.

So this, in the strictest sense, is the difference between an accredited and non-accredited diagnostic medical sonography school. Attending an accredited school makes getting certified quicker and easier.

Program Thoroughness and Reputation

Another less formal answer to the question of the difference between an accredited and non-accredited diagnostic medical sonography schools is that accredited school may have more thorough or reputable programs. This is not by any means always the case. But looking for accredited schools can be at least a guideline for selecting schools that offer a good education.

Finding Accredited Schools

The CAAHEP allows you to search for accredited programs in diagnostic medical sonography. Click the “find an accredited program” tab at the top of the page and it will take you to this search utility. Once there you select the type of program (in this case diagnostic medical sonography) you can search CAAHEP accredited programs by state.

Diagnostic Medical Sonography Schools

Diagnostic medical sonography schools are schools that instruct students in the use of sonography, also known as ultrasound, as a medically diagnostic medium. The following are some of the school types where you will find these kinds of programs offered:

School Types

Community/Junior Colleges

Most people have some kind of community college or junior college somewhere within easy reach of where they live. These are two year colleges that offer education in a variety of fields, and they are a common place to find diagnostic medical sonography programs. Community colleges and junior colleges often grant Associate’s degrees in medical sonography. This is the most common degree level to be held by diagnostic medical sonographers. Shorter one year type programs in the discipline also exist, and may be offered by some community colleges but they are less common.

Vocational/Career Schools

Vocational and career schools are another common type of school that offers diagnostic medical sonography courses of instruction. These schools are career focused institutions aimed at getting people into the workforce. It is common for these schools to offer both 1 year certificate/diploma type programs and 2 year Associate’s degree programs. They generally tend to offer Associate’s degrees in diagnostic medical sonography, but they may also be more likely to offer one year programs in diagnostic medical sonography than other types of schools.

Technical Schools

Being a technologically based field, technical schools often offer programs in diagnostic medical sonography. Again, these are often 2 year Associate degrees. Some may prefer this type of school as an educational environment if they have a primarily technical bent, emphasizing as they do the technical side of the field.

Four Year Colleges

Bachelor’s degrees are also awarded in diagnostic medical sonography. These educational programs tend to be broader than one or two year courses of instruction and may include instruction in other imaging modalities or medical technologies.

Accreditation

It is a good idea to try to find diagnostic medical sonography schools that are accredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). These programs tend to be good ones. There are other accrediting organizations besides CAAHEP, and accreditation is not absolutely necessary – there may be reputable non-accredited programs. But this can be a good place to start looking for schools that are well regarded and thorough from an educational standpoint.

Finding a School

It is extremely easy these days to find lists of schools on the internet. The CAAHEP website has a search utility that lists schools accredited by them by state, and this is a good resource to access to begin your search. In addition there are numerous sites that allow for school searches using all kinds of criteria such a program durations, location, accreditation and so on.

In addition to this you can check with your local department of education concerning school listings they may have. They may be able to recommend various programs in your area that, whether or not they are accredited, may be good schools that offer thorough education in the field.

It is possible to train to be a diagnostic medical sonographer online. That is, it is possible to fulfill the classroom requirements in this way. There is, however, a clinical experience portion that is a important part of nearly all sonography and ultrasound training, and this, of course, cannot be fulfilled over the internet.

To get a sense of what these diagnostic medical sonography online schools are like, let’s take a look at a particular program as an example. Mountain State University is based in Beckley West Virginia and has campuses in a number of other states. They offer classroom as well as distance learning programs.

Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program at Mountain State

The Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) Program at Mountain State can be taken both for Associate of Science (AS) and Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees in DMS. A certain number of prerequisite courses are required before an individual is selected for the program. Once these have been fulfilled a student enters the “selection pool” out of which a new “DMS start group” is selected.

Upon being accepted into a start group the group of students is assigned a “clinical coordinator” who deals with the clinical portion of the program, placing students at various health facilities so that they can gain the necessary on the job experience. These coordinators handle the process of communicating with these health facilities so that a good clinical education situation can be arrived at.

Before getting set up with a clinical program, the student must complete a three day residency at the Beckley Mountain State campus. The student is briefed on the basics of sonographic scanning at this residency and gets preliminary practical experience in performing DMS scans.

One stipulation that Mountain State sets forth is that anyone who wishes to take their online DMS program must live more than 150 miles away from the main Beckley campus. Apparently they feel that anyone who lives closer should be able to arrange to attend the college in person. This seems a bit Spartan, but presumably they have their reasons.

Typical Programs

The Mountain State program is perhaps not so typical of diagnostic medical sonography online schools. Other online programs may not the requirements such as the residency and so on. But one thing that is typical, in fact omnipresent, is that these programs have to either interface in some way with clinical experience at hospitals or other medical facilities, or that a student must complete these work requirements in some way on their own either before or after taking the online program. It is not possible to completely train to be a diagnostic medical sonographer online. This is a hands on technical field that requires practice using ultrasound equipment. Online instruction can only be a substitute for what would otherwise be the classroom portions of training.

Cautionary Note

It is generally a good idea to use a degree of caution when considering online programs in general. There is the possibility that online programs are less than reputable and some prove to be outright scams. It is a good idea to run any diagnostic medical sonography online schools that you are considering through a series of routine checks such as reading reviews of them on unbiased user review sites, seeing what accreditations they have (if any), talking over the phone or in person with teachers and administrators, and even seeing whether there are complaints about the schools with the Better Business Bureau. Don’t just blindly sign up for an online program because it looks good and hassle free. You need to put as much or more thought into which of these schools to select as you would with an ordinary “bricks and mortar” college or university. This school will be preparing you for a career that you will probably be involved in for an extended period, so finding a good school is paramount.