Theoretical education and clinical training completed – Diagnostic Medical Sonography
1. The nature and content of the
theoretical training completed. Examples of such courses and the content include:
- biological sciences: sonographic pathology and anatomy, physiology
- sonographic physics and instrumentation: physics of ultrasound, Doppler (e.g. pulsed wave, colour, real time assessments), 3D imaging, transducer types and frequencies
- instrument quality control and maintenance: display, networking, archival and retrieval (analog & digital), picture archiving communication system (PACS), digital postprocessing, image evaluation and optimization, quality management
- patient care: infection control, aseptic techniques, emergency response procedures, physiological monitoring, assessment of patient’s condition, responding to patient’s physical and psychological needs, contraindications, consent, post-procedural care, transducer cleaning and reprocessing
- behavioural sciences: written communication skills (records and reporting), interpersonal communication skills, health legislation and professional practice, health care systems and ethical issues research methodology
- generalist specific sonographic procedures: obstetrics, non-fetal obstetrical structures, gynecology and pelvic organs, abdomen, superficial structures, extracranial arteries and peripheral veins; or
- vascular specific procedures: cerebrovascular arteries, abdominal vasculature, upper and lower extremities arterial and venous studies, vascular exercise testing; or
- cardiac specific procedures: paediatric heart, adult heart, stress echocardiography, setting up ECG
2. The nature and content of the
clinical training completed. Examples include:
- variety of patient types: pediatric, geriatric, ambulatory, non-ambulatory, emergency, with chronic and acute illnesses
- variety of clinical settings: imaging department, emergency, trauma, clinics, in-patient unit, operating room, intensive care unit (ICU), cardiac care unit (CCU)
- variety of sonographic equipment: real-time 2-D, Doppler (pulsed wave, colour, real time assessments), 3D imaging, transducer types and frequencies
- variety of patient care procedures: infection control, aseptic techniques, emergency response procedures, physiological monitoring, assessment of patient’s condition, responding to patient’s physical and psychological needs, assessment of contraindications to the procedure, ensuring consent and post-procedural care, infection control procedures, transducer cleaning and/or reprocessing procedures, equipment quality control, insertion of transvaginal transducer/transrectal transducer
- variety of (generalist) sonographic procedures: obstetric gynecologic and male pelvis, breast, abdomen, chest, superficial structures, musculoskeletal, vascular general (lower extremity for DVT) and interventional procedures
- variety of (vascular) sonographic procedures: extracranial arteries, and abdominal vasculature, upper extremity and lower extremity (arterial and venous studies), photoplethysmography, arterial pressure testing and vascular exercise testing and interventional procedures
- variety of (cardiac) sonographic procedures: paediatric and adult heart, stress echocardiography
