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Diagnostic
Medical Sonography
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At OCC’s Southfield Campus, students can
prepare for a career in Diagnostic Medical Sonography. Sonographers
perform diagnostic examinations of structures inside the human body
using ultrasound - high frequency sound waves that produce dynamic
images of many parts of the body such as abdominal organs, blood
vessels, fetuses in pregnant women and superficial body structures.
Sonographers work closely with radiologists and physicians who interpret
medical images to diagnose or rule out disease. "OCC’s program is one of
the few college based programs available in the area," says Carolyn Nacy,
OCC’s director for the program. Coursework provides students with a firm
foundation in physics and the biological sciences, as well as in
the professional and technical disciplines related to ultrasound. It
also gives them the other general education classes they need to earn an
extended associate’s degree (73 credit hours versus the typical 62
credit hours) in Applied Science. Once students complete their
prerequisites, which they often do while attending OCC part-time, a more
intense part of the program begins, Nacy explains: "Students make a
full-time commitment to the program at this point, because they will
spend the next 15 months in lectures, demonstrations, practical labs and
supervised clinical instruction at area hospitals. OCC’s program is
approved by the Commission in Accreditation of Allied Health
Education Programs, and graduates are eligible to take the national
certification exam offered by the American Registry of Diagnostic
Medical Sonographers. "We have OCC sonography graduates in every
hospital in the area," Nacy says. "Many of our grads are now running
those departments," she adds. Other grads have continued on for
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in health care administration. One
recent OCC grad, Beth Buccellato, a single mother of three, moved a
little further away to begin her career. She was recruited by the
prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. |