Sonographer schools in San Antonio, TX

I have checked the CAAHEP web site, but no school in SA is accredited by them. Dose anybody know any thing about the DMS programs in St. Philip's college or Baptist Health System? Will graduates from these programs able to take the registy exam? On St. Philip's college web site (www.accd.edu/spc/acad/ahd/sono/sonoprogram.aspx ),
they did stated that "upon completion of this program the student will be able to sit for the registry examination". Is that the same exam as ARDMS? Please Help me! Thanks.

Can someone please explain the difference of accredited school and non-accredited? I live here in San Antonio texas and would like to attend a good ultrasound/sonography school. By the way, what is the difference with ultrasound & sonography? Which field is a better paying and more interesting field? What does ARDMS AND CAAHEP stand for and what is it? Does san antonio texas have any good schools to attend. Please help....I may sound so uneducated int his field but the more I read up on it online i become more exposure to it and I find it awesome field. How about the pay in sa town when graduated?

victor

Daisy, I am so sad right now cause I am not able to find a school in San Antonio that is accredited. I am new to this area but want to attend a reputable college that is CAAHEP supported. I am going to read on more and investigate and will keep you updated. My email is victcr2@yahoo.com. I have a friend that is an education specialist and we are going to look around. We may have to take online courses with a school that is CAAHEP. Not sure, but a little depressing. keep me updated, Daisy.

victor

I would love more info on this also. Frankly I'm kind of mad. St. Philip's is CAAHEP accredited for their Resp. Therapy program. Why not this? Why even bother offering courses that are not accredited and can't get you a job when you graduate? As a community college they should do better. Leave the unaccredited, can't-get-hired stuff up to the overpriced Career Point type places.

I was very excited by the prospect of becoming an Ultrasound Tech.. and to find out that becuase I live in San Antonio, a LARGE CITY by the way, there are no accredited programs so I might have to choose something else is very disappointing to say the least.

What else is there to do besides commute to Austin?

SA stinks.

Just looking at jobs in SA and find the following often:

"Tech more than 24 months post graduation must be registered by the ARDMS or the ARRT credential to be eligible to be hired. New graduate of an ultrasound program must be registered within 24 months of graduation of their program."

Is this hope for those of us here in SA with no accredited school? Do you think many SA employers will hire anyway, since there is no local accredited school and they have to get U/S techs somehow?

chris in San Antonio, Texas said: I would love more info on this also. Frankly I'm kind of mad. St. Philip's is CAAHEP accredited for their Resp. Therapy program. Why not this? Why even bother offering courses that are not accredited and can't get you a job when you graduate? As a community college they should do better. Leave the unaccredited, can't-get-hired stuff up to the overpriced Career Point type places.

I was very excited by the prospect of becoming an Ultrasound Tech.. and to find out that becuase I live in San Antonio, a LARGE CITY by the way, there are no accredited programs so I might have to choose something else is very disappointing to say the least.

What else is there to do besides commute to Austin?

SA stinks.

Hey Chris dont know if u found a school yet, but i know of one that is accredited here in San Antonio by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education School(ABHES). Its The Academy Of Health Care Profesions-4738 N.W. Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78229 (210)298-3900. I was looking into the feld to i visited the school already and passed the Scholastic Level Exam given there and then, but havent returned since, its a bit pricy so i'm checking my options. Good luck with ur search, hope this helps.

Daisy in San Antonio, Texas said: I have checked the CAAHEP web site, but no school in SA is accredited by them. Dose anybody know any thing about the DMS programs in St. Philip's college or Baptist Health System? Will graduates from these programs able to take the registy exam? On St. Philip's college web site ( www.accd.edu/spc/acad/ahd/sono/sonoprogram.aspx ),
they did stated that "upon completion of this program the student will be able to sit for the registry examination". Is that the same exam as ARDMS? Please Help me! Thanks.

SA does not have an accredited program (by CAAHEP) which is the requirement to sit your registries (unless you are previous RT or some other 2 yr medical profession). SA's pay is fairly low compared to the rest of the state as well (this is in line with the lower cost of living). I have lived all over the state and would still take San Antonio over any other large city for cost of living and quality of life.

Tony Gx in San Antonio, Texas said: Hey Chris dont know if u found a school yet, but i know of one that is accredited here in San Antonio by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education School(ABHES). Its The Academy Of Health Care Profesions-4738 N.W. Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78229 (210)298-3900. I was looking into the feld to i visited the school already and passed the Scholastic Level Exam given there and then, but havent returned since, its a bit pricy so i'm checking my options. Good luck with ur search, hope this helps.

Don't do it, that is all I can say. Go to any forum with sonographers and you will find scores of students who went to these sorts of (unaccredited) schools and cannot find a job. Registered sonographers have a hard enough time starting out (every wants AT LEAST one year worth of full time working experience due to the sheer technical difficulty of the job) much less without being able to get registered at all.

Anyone who goes to unaccredited schools go through a year of school (which does not meet ARDMS guidelines for a 2 year patient centered DMS program) and then they used to be able to work a year and sit their registries. This is NO LONGER the case. So you pay a LOT of money for your schooling and it useless. Especially since the CARE bill is pretty much a sure thing (this mandates that all US techs be registered) and the doctor's offices and hospitals will no longer hire you without either a registry or experience.

These schools LIE about your ability to sit your registries and they LIE even more about your job prospects.

Registered US Tech in Corpus Christi, Texas said: Don't do it, that is all I can say. Go to any forum with sonographers and you will find scores of students who went to these sorts of (unaccredited) schools and cannot find a job. Registered sonographers have a hard enough time starting out (every wants AT LEAST one year worth of full time working experience due to the sheer technical difficulty of the job) much less without being able to get registered at all.

Anyone who goes to unaccredited schools go through a year of school (which does not meet ARDMS guidelines for a 2 year patient centered DMS program) and then they used to be able to work a year and sit their registries. This is NO LONGER the case. So you pay a LOT of money for your schooling and it useless. Especially since the CARE bill is pretty much a sure thing (this mandates that all US techs be registered) and the doctor's offices and hospitals will no longer hire you without either a registry or experience.

These schools LIE about your ability to sit your registries and they LIE even more about your job prospects.

Are you against the CARE bill or support it? I am skeptic about it right now that it will get passed or be enforced but if it does, it's good for everyone across all modalities to have minimal federal educational standards across the country.

I'd like to post the general "meat" of the reply I received from St. Philip's in response to my questions about their lack of CAAHEP accreditation. Please comment. I asked about the CAAHEP thing and about sitting for the registry exam right out of school, and about their graduation rates. Also about how many grads were employed. That's what is referred to at the end of the answer.

_____________________________Begin Quoted Text__________________________

The program does not have CAAHEP accreditation. Not all programs require CAAHEP accreditation so not all programs have it. The CAAHEP accreditation was added for sonography in August 2007. We are a new program and it takes time to get CAAHEP Accreditation. The prerequisites for the ARDMS have changed about three times since August of 2007. ARDMS is not the only registry a student can sit for but it is the one that requires the CAAHEP accreditation. Students can also sit for the ARRT. The ARRT can be taken right out of school. ARDMS the student must work in the field for a year.

The other questions about placement cannot be answered at this time because we are a new program and don't have the statistics to back an answer.

_______________________________End quoted text ________________________

So, what do y'all think about that? Do you think I could be confident that they ARE going to get the desired accreditation?

If they become accredited after I graduate will it still benefit me?

The ARRT accreditation is generally viewed as being substandard to that of ARDMS registration. The ARRT accreditation CANNOT be taken right out of school either...you must be a Rad Tech to take it instead of the ARDMS.

I would say their answer leads me to believe no. I am also wondering why they didn't answer your question about their grad rates and employment numbers. Their accreditation will not benefit you after you graduate. Are you opposed to an accredited program or is it not possible for you to move to get it? If not, I would encourage you to consider another field.

As for the CARE bill, I support it completely. We need minimum educational standards as well as professional recognition through licensure. We are PROFESSIONALS, but how can we be considered as such if we do not hold ourselves to a higher standard. Our profession is SO complex and we are not yet required to be registered. It is unfortunate that this was not instituted sooner and the faster the CARE bill is implemented, the better.

Registered US Tech in Corpus Christi, Texas said: The ARRT accreditation is generally viewed as being substandard to that of ARDMS registration. The ARRT accreditation CANNOT be taken right out of school either...you must be a Rad Tech to take it instead of the ARDMS.

I would say their answer leads me to believe no. I am also wondering why they didn't answer your question about their grad rates and employment numbers. Their accreditation will not benefit you after you graduate. Are you opposed to an accredited program or is it not possible for you to move to get it? If not, I would encourage you to consider another field.
<SNIP>

That's what I thought, about the ARRT... I read it and wondered just what it had to do with being an US tech!?

And no, I am not at all opposed to an accredited program. It's just that there ARE none where I live. The closest would be at Austin Community College (their program requires that you take classes to become a CNA first).. and that would be a 2 hour commute for me each way. Which, if I want it bad enough I guess I could do. I just haven't decided if I want it THAT bad yet or not.

It's not practical to move up there for a couple of years as I just bought a house here last year. I have a partner and we have 3 kids together. Even if I wanted to rent out the house, it is a "fixer" and needs some stuff done before I could expect to get decent rent for it. I thought about moving up there on my own and leaving my kids w/my partner and coming home on weekends but I am not sure I like that idea. My eldest is 16 and by the time I was finished with school he'd be moving out! I don't want to miss entire weeks of their lives.

I just really was excited about the field and believe me, I don't get excited about jobs, period. I have researched just about everything out there and nothing gets me at all "excited". This did.

I support the CARE Bill also, and maybe when it finally passes hopefully this year, those vocational schools would no longer be able to provide and lie to students about their programs such as MRI or Ultrasound programs. Everyone has no choice but to take the registry in ARRT, ARDMS, NMTCB, or etc in their respective modality in each state. There are some technologists who don't support it or just tired of waiting but hopefully it does finally this year or simply just don't believe in the ASRT bs really. Hey, maybe the school like St. Philipps College would have no choice but to be accredited by CAAHEP and JRCET since that is what the ASRT has been proposing in the CARE bill. We are professionals not just picture takers across all modalities.

Honestly, I was going to say this but tech above me beat me to the punch is that the ARRT just act similarly to the ARDMS except the 2 tests to become registered in sonography. It's sad that the director who told you that is a registered tech also but I bet he/she just wanted money like I have seen lately in educational programs in our field unfortunatly. I would say only one director in my life who is willing to tell the truth what is happening in the radiology field and just let me choose to do what I want instead of being conned to it. It's unfortunate for you Chris that you do have to make that decision and it's hard to leave a family behind for the moment at least. I know you have no interest to become a RN, a therapist or etc. I know you were thinking about becoming a dental hygienist but the bachelors program is quite expensive in any field and it is right, it's kind a awkward a big city like yours don't have an accredited sonography program. Honestly, whether you like it or not but it is great you felt excited about a profession, ultrasound or x ray has a lot of patient care that people do underestimate. If you think ultrasound was great to do then maybe you are ready to go some other field.

I would recommend x ray to you but I don't want to lie to you. The market for radiography is saturated right now and I rather not let you graduate and have a hard time finding a job. There's only some people like myself who were lucky enough to network and find good jobs.

I still suggest for you Chris that you go for Respiratory Therapist if you choose to do so. It is demanding across the country and you'll find a job absolutely honestly and can move anywhere with no problem. The money is very good. However, it is up to you. It's just a suggestion. No I am not a therapist. From all the programs that I saw in St. Phillips College that is demanding as much as nursing it would be the respiratory field. Good luck, man.

Just a quick comment too...regardless of discrimination laws, ultrasound can be a hard field for men. Most hospitals who want "general" ultrasound techs want someone who can do abdomens, ob/gyn, and vascular. At the very least abdomen & gyn and this becomes a problem for men since the hospitals have to provide a chaperone for the male whilst doing transvaginal exams or breast exams. Places hate to do this because they see it as an added cost (pulling a paid employee from another task to chaperone a male tech when such would not be needed with a female tech). I think that it would be wise for men who want to do ultrasound to chose the echo/vascular track as it appears to be less of a problem on that side.

While I don't agree with it (and I think women tend to be irrational over things like that) it seems to be a reality. It is lopsided as well as women tend not to need a chaperone to do a testicular exam. *shrug* I'm a female and I think it is ridiculous and unbelievably one-sided.

thanks to you both. I'm female though. chris(tine)

Oops, sorry bout that. Good luck!

Does anyone know if you do go to an unaccredited school (for sonography), can you volunteer to get the hours you need to take the exam or do you need to be actually employed?...Anyone know when the CARE bill will be start?

jg in San Antonio, Texas said: Does anyone know if you do go to an unaccredited school (for sonography), can you volunteer to get the hours you need to take the exam or do you need to be actually employed?...Anyone know when the CARE bill will be start?

it has to be paid employment- and you have to submit your timesheets. Do not know about the CARE bill

Here are the prereqs from ARDMS:

www.ardms.org/downloads/Prerequisite_Chart.pdf

If you go to an unaccredited school then you would fall under prereq 1, unless you have Bachelor's degree prior and then you would fall under 3B or 3A.

As for the CARE bill, it was passed by the Senate HELP committee on 3/13/08. This is just another step until it is completely passed. No one knows when it will be implemented or what the final wording will be. It will undergo revision between here and there, no doubt. I am assuming they will ad some sort of grandfathering and timeframe as well as a possible exemption for really rural areas.

Okay, this is from the ARDMS pre-req chart and I'm confused by it... is this basically saying that you cannot use clinical hours gained in SCHOOL to meet the requirements?

___________________________________________________________________________

"3 Clinical ultrasound/vascular experience may be obtained one
of two ways; (1) being employed as a full-time ultrasound/vascular
sonographer in a clinical setting for 12 months, or (2) successfully
completing a formal, full-time ultrasound program that is
a minimum of 12 months in length and includes appropriate
clinical and didactic hours. Clinical diagnostic settings include
hospitals, clinics, and private practices. It is recommended that
an applicant be directly involved in a minimum of 800 diagnostic
cases during his/her clinical experience in each specialty area
for which he/she is applying. ARDMS does not accept volunteer,
instructorship, unpaid, barter, or veterinarian experience. The
time frames in which the education and clinical requirements
are met cannot overlap. Clinical experience earned to document
the education requirement cannot also be used to support the
clinical requirement."

Registered US Tech in Corpus Christi, Texas said: Oops, sorry bout that. Good luck!

No biggie. It's the Internet after all. ;)

I'm so sick of thinking about all this. I want to start back to school in the fall but don't know if I should work on sonography pre-reqs or just general education stuff for a Bachelor's in something non-health related.

I've considered maybe moving to Austin long enough to attend their DMS program after I get my pre-reqs here (their website says most of those will transfer)....so right now I'm just trying to figure out what classes to take for the fall semester.

rtr in Paramus, New Jersey said: I would recommend x ray to you but I don't want to lie to you. The market for radiography is saturated right now and I rather not let you graduate and have a hard time finding a job. There's only some people like myself who were lucky enough to network and find good jobs.

I still suggest for you Chris that you go for Respiratory Therapist if you choose to do so. It is demanding across the country and you'll find a job absolutely honestly and can move anywhere with no problem. The money is very good. However, it is up to you. It's just a suggestion. No I am not a therapist. From all the programs that I saw in St. Phillips College that is demanding as much as nursing it would be the respiratory field. Good luck, man.

Thanks again for your input. I just can't drum up much enthusiasm for Respiratory Therapy. Maybe because I'm a smoker (currently trying to quit!!) and it scares me to think about all that?!? I dunno.

So at this point it is probably going to be Sonography (via a long hard road) or Education/Teaching (via a longer, yet easier road since I can do that HERE).

Registered US Tech in Corpus Christi, Texas said: Just a quick comment too...regardless of discrimination laws, ultrasound can be a hard field for men. Most hospitals who want "general" ultrasound techs want someone who can do abdomens, ob/gyn, and vascular. At the very least abdomen & gyn and this becomes a problem for men since the hospitals have to provide a chaperone for the male whilst doing transvaginal exams or breast exams. Places hate to do this because they see it as an added cost (pulling a paid employee from another task to chaperone a male tech when such would not be needed with a female tech). I think that it would be wise for men who want to do ultrasound to chose the echo/vascular track as it appears to be less of a problem on that side.

While I don't agree with it (and I think women tend to be irrational over things like that) it seems to be a reality. It is lopsided as well as women tend not to need a chaperone to do a testicular exam. *shrug* I'm a female and I think it is ridiculous and unbelievably one-sided.

there shouldn't be discrimination in the ultrasound field but I've heard stories like that before also,in which made me not go for ultrasound at all. to the employers or the patients, it's not discrimination but the preference of the patients same as mammography. however, what about the male gynecologists and those are the ones who I would worry about more than male ultrasound techs. what about also male nurses who are taking care of female patients in all ages from pediatric to geriatric patients same as the CNAs but somehow there is no preference from the employer or the patient. it is stupid and ridiculous. regardless, you have to abide to the patient's wishes unless you are the only tech there but I would still be more cautious than ever due to legal proceedings that crazy patients can cooked up nowadays esp for a US tech.

Ha, well if you are looking at quitting, sonography will definitely encourage you...especially when you atually SEE what smoking does to your heart and vasculature. As for a respiratory therapist...I would think it would be even moreso. I think a few x-rays of what lung cancer looks like might influence you as an RT to quit too. >;oD

As for the prereq, I don't know...I had number 2 and that made my life a jillion times easier. I would encourage you to do Austin and NOT do the unaccredited one. San Antonio is notoriously hard to find a job in as a sonographer who is registered. It would be almost impossible to do it unregistered. Austin's program would be easier for you. You do a full year worth of classroom work and then a year of externship...they may even be able to set you up to do your externship in San Antonio. I believe Peripheral Vascular Associates of SA allows ACC students to do that.

And keep your grades as high as possible (mostly A's, very few B's if any and NO C's) as getting into these programs is very competitive.

I am currently taking the prerequistes requiered by the Ultrasound program @ St.Philips College.I did go check out the Academy of Health Care program which the cost was crazy!!So is the program @ St.Philips recommended? What is the average pay here is San Antonio for an Ultrasound Technician?

Vanessa. Check out the earlier comments. It's not accredited with the CAAHEP. The risk is up to you.

From what I have seen, the avg. pay is in the low 20/hr range. An MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine/High Risk OB) office there was offering $20/hr to two girls I know and they both have their registries in OB. There is a group of vascular surgeons there that pay well to beginning RVT's (24/hr). The hospitals make it very hard to get into, especially since Baptist has their own internal school and trains their RT's to be sonographers.

Austin has better pay, but a much higher cost of living. San Antonio may pay less, but your cost of living is far less...CPS for electricity can't be beat. I paid about $175 per month in SA to cool a 2800 sq. ft. house in th summer...in Corpus I pay over $400 a month for a house that is only 2300 sq. ft.

I am an ultrasound technologist registered with the ARDMS (which, by the way, stands for American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers). The difference between ultrasound and sonography is simple. A sonogram is the image produced with ultrasound. The terms are often used interchangeably. A sonographer and an ultrasound tech are one and the same. I am a graduate of the Baptist Health System School of Ultrasonography and have worked in the field for almost 7 years. Being accredited is not a big deal and going to an accredited school will not make you a better tech. Nor will an employer usually care where you went to school as long as you are registered. The Baptist school is not yet accredited but is regarded as a superior school in this area. St Philips school has just become accredited but in my experience with graduates from there, it is a poorly run school which does not offer its students much scanning experience. We have also had trouble with graduates of some of the schools in Austin. Classes start at the Baptist school every January but you need to apply early. HOWEVER, there are medical prerequisites you must meet. You must either be a graduate of a radiologic technology program, have a bachelor's degree in biology, be an RN, or an MD. The best route is probably via radiologic technology. Salaries in our area are in the $50-60 range depending upon experience. Baptist hospital ads do say you must be a graduate of an accredited school but they do not enforce that. If you are serious about ultrasound, attending a good school is a wonderful idea, but accreditation does not ensure a good education. If you are going to invest the time to learn ultrasound, you will want to be able to pass the registry exams. Once you are registered, few employers will care where you went to school as long as you can do the job.

If you earn $50 - $60 dollars please tell us what facility you work for because I work with 2 vascular techs, between us we have 42 years experience, we have all taught at the facilities you have mentioned, worked at all of our systems and we max out at about $50 an exam contracting. We earn between $28 and $35 at our regular jobs so your claim seems very high. You are correct in your statements about the different programs as we are all graduates of the Baptist System. I graduated from St. Philips Xray, the other two went to the Baptist X-ray program, both have their pros and cons. You have to put in the hard work in investigating the seperate programs, but be very careful about accredidation, a lot have the schools are leniant with the truth and I have heard of and experienced many students who have been duped. An ultrasound tech's job is very rewarding both financialy and with regards to job satisfaction but it is also full of pressure and with lots of call if you work in a hospital. Good Luck all of you aspiring Techs, its not all doom and gloom but jobs are few and far between.