Best Ultrasound Technician Schools in Pennsylvania – 2024
Written By: Editorial Staff @ NursingProcess.org
As a graduate of one of the ultrasound technician programs in Pennsylvania, you can go on to become a specialist in obstetrics/gynecologic sonography, mammography or cardiovascular sonography, and you’ll work in settings as diverse as a hospital, an ambulatory care clinic, or a physician’s private practice. Demand for your services is projected to increase by 17 percent in the next 10 years, and you’ll be paid well, too: In the Keystone State, ultrasound techs earn $75,500 annually on average. So, what are you waiting for? Find out more about the 10 best ultrasound technician schools in Pennsylvania for 2024 by reading the information below.
WHAT ARE THE BEST ULTRASOUND TECHNICIAN PROGRAMS IN PENNSYLVANIA?
(Based on our Ranking Methodology, below are the 10 best Ultrasound Technician programs in Pennsylvania. The list includes both campus-based and online programs.)
1) Misericordia University - Dallas
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Hybrid Baccalaureate (Full-Time), Online Baccalaureate – (Part-Time) & Certificate
Misericordia University’s sonography education is congruent to its mission of extending compassionate service to the community. The faculty is dedicated and provides personalized mentorship to help students achieve their individual goals.
Misericordia currently offers three different types of sonography programs -
Hybrid Baccalaureate (Full-time): The four-year, full-time program will require you to take some courses online, but please note the core sonography courses are only taught on-campus. During the last four semesters including summer, on-campus sonography courses are held every alternate weekend along with 32 hours of clinical training during the week. The curriculum also incorporates a liberal arts component, giving you a well-rounded education. As a full-time student, you will be eligible for financial aid and scholarships.
100% Online Baccalaureate (Part-time): The program is ideally meant for working sonographers who are keen on widening their knowledge and skill base to enhance employment opportunities or are interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the future. You will take advanced sonography courses, preparing you for fetal echocardiography, neurosonography, and breast sonography specialty certification exams. All courses are offered online, giving you maximum flexibility to simultaneously fulfill your work commitments.
Certificate: This is an ideal option if you are already holding a healthcare degree and are seeking a career change. It prepares you for entry-level ultrasound positions and the ARDMS exam specializing in abdominal and obstetrics and gynecology. The 18-month program is offered in late August and has a convenient schedule, offering on-campus courses every alternate weekend and clinical sessions during the week, both during the day and evening.
2) Thomas Jefferson University - Philadelphia
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Baccalaureate (General Sonography, Cardiac Sonography & Vascular Sonography)
Thomas Jefferson University provides extensive hands-on-learning to sonography students thus preparing them for employment in a variety of health care settings. Its consistently impressive placement rate is a testament to the quality of training students receive.
You can pursue the full-time, Bachelor’s degree offered by Thomas Jefferson in any of the three DMS concentrations. Options include General Sonography, Cardiac Sonography, and Vascular Sonography. You will be required to spend around 40 hours per week for classwork and clinical training. You also have the option of earning your degree with a dual concentration by combining two concentrations. The dual concentration will considerably help widen your employment prospects. Each concentration will take you 12 months, and if you opt for the dual concentration, you will study for two years with each concentration taking one full year.
General Sonography: The general sonography program is designed to train you to produce digital images of the abdominal organs, pelvis, obstetrics, superficial structures, and abdominal vessels to help in the evaluation of a patient’s health condition.
Cardiac Sonography: You will learn to use ultrasound equipment to evaluate a patient’s heart chambers, walls and vessels by producing cardiac ultrasound images.
Vascular Sonography: You will be trained to use ultrasound technology to examine a patient’s vascular blood flow, limb volume changes, oxygen saturation, cerebral circulation, peripheral circulation, and abdominal circulation.
3) Mount Aloysius College - Cresson
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate & Baccalaureate (Medical Imaging - Ultrasonography)
Mount Aloysius College has been synonymous in the region for its ultrasound technician education. Graduates are sought after by employers for the quality training that comes along with them. Its newly upgraded Learning Center for Health Sciences Technology is equipped with the latest equipment and simulation technology, offering students ample opportunities to hone their professional skills.
To become an ultrasound technician in PA you can choose from either the Associate or Baccalaureate in Diagnostic Medical Sonography offered at MAC. The curriculum for both programs is a perfect blend of liberal arts as well as the core courses. A Bachelor’s will take a longer time to complete but will give you a more in-depth and well-rounded education. The associate program mainly focuses on the examination of the abdomen and obstetrics and ultrasound instrumentation. The bachelor’s curriculum will include a business and management component as well, training you to be fully capable to run and manage an imaging center at various healthcare settings. Bachelor’s students also have an option to specialize in cerebrovascular sonography, abdominal and pelvic vasculature or vascular sonography of the upper and lower extremities.
4) Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences - Lancaster
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate & Certificate
Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences well equipped with the latest simulation technology, 3D/4D and elastography offers ultrasound technician students with the most authentic patient scenarios. The college is armed with a faculty that has vast experience in varied fields of sonography, ranging from obstetrics, gynecology and vascular sonography.
This ultrasound technician school in Pennsylvania offers two different types of DMS programs -
Associate: The two-year entry-level associate degree requires you to complete 66 credits. The first year will include general and elective courses in English, psychology, anatomy, and physiology and medical terminology. During the second year, you will take courses in sonography which includes obstetrical and gynecological, vascular and superficial structures.
Certificate: This 13-month certificate program is meant for those who hold an associate or bachelor’s degree from any other allied healthcare field. You will take courses in medical terminology, methods of patient care, abdominal sonography, obstetrical and gynecology, superficial structures an ultrasound physics and instrumentation.
5) Great Lakes Institute of Technology - Erie
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate
Great Lakes Institute’s small-sized classes ensure personalized attention, enabling effective mentoring of sonography students. No wonder graduates go on to find employment at well-known healthcare organizations not only in Pennsylvania but also Tennessee, Virginia, New York and Ohio.
The 19-month Associate degree in DMS at Great Lakes thoroughly trains you for a career as an entry-level ultrasound technician with the skills and knowledge required to generate images of various body parts using ultrasound technology. The program specializes in general sonography and additionally includes a course in vascular sonography. The curriculum along with courses in liberal arts will include core courses in abdominal sonography, medical law, and ethics, human behavior, ultrasound instrumentation, obstetric and gynecological sonography. The program starts with basic preparation courses such as career success strategies, business communication, and Microsoft word.
6) Lackawanna College - Scranton
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate (Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Cardiac Sonography & Vascular Sonography)
Lackawanna College offers one of the most affordable sonography training programs in the state of Pennsylvania. Established 120 years ago, today it has come a long way in terms of quality employment ready education. It has forged partnerships with healthcare centers in the region, thereby providing sonography students with exceptional clinical training opportunities.
The college offers a two-year associate degree program with an option to choose any one of the three specializations - Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Vascular or Cardiac Sonography. To be eligible for this program, you must complete the pre-requisite coursework in anatomy and physiology, algebra, computer applications, medical ethics, medical terminology, and English.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography: This program makes you proficient in scanning and diagnosing problems in the areas of - abdomen, obstetric and gynecologic, neurosonography and other small body parts. It also introduces you to vascular sonography, thereby preparing you with all the required skills to become an entry-level ultrasound technician. Admission is selective, and a maximum of 20 students are admitted each year.
Cardiac Sonography: You will learn to examine and evaluate the heart, blood vessels and surrounding anatomy using digital images, created by high-frequency sound waves. The program admits a maximum of 25 students and prepares you for an exciting career as a Cardiac Sonographer. Your potential employers would be hospitals, primary clinics, laboratories, and diagnostic imaging centers.
Vascular Sonography: To earn your degree as a Vascular Sonographer you must complete a minimum of 70 credit hours. Your coursework will include courses in vascular sonography, ultrasound physics, and laboratory management, to list a few.
7) Harrisburg Area Community College – Harrisburg & Lancaster
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate (Diagnostic Medical Sonography & CVT-Cardiac Sonography)
If you are keen on making an entry into the allied healthcare field as an ultrasound technician, then you can consider Harrisburg Area Community College. It offers training that combines didactic sessions, lab and extensive clinical rotation at its affiliated clinical sites, locally.
The college offers the associate degree in two different tracks to choose from, Diagnostic Medical Sonography and CVT Cardiac Sonography.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography: This program offers a curriculum that is a combination of general, technical and core courses which ensure you are fully capable of using the sonography equipment to generate images of the abdomen, superficial structures, non-cardiac chest, and the pelvis. The six-semester program requires you to take general education courses in the first two semesters, followed by core courses in sonography from the third semester onwards.
CVT-Cardiac Sonography: The Cardiovascular Technology- Cardiac Sonography program offered at the Lancaster campus is designed to prepare you for a career as a Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer. You will learn to perform ultrasound examinations using high-frequency sound waves to produce and evaluate images of the heart, great blood vessels, and surrounding anatomy. Your coursework will include a well-rounded intensive curriculum covering topics such as cardiac pathophysiology and echo concepts, cardiac hemodynamics and an introduction to pediatric echocardiography.
8) Crozer-Chester Medical Center (Keystone) - Upland
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Baccalaureate
Crozer Chester Medical Center is a prominent teaching hospital located between Philadelphia and Wilmington. Students are taught in its highly sophisticated facility where complex medical procedures such as open-heart surgeries, renal transplants, cancer, burn and trauma treatments are performed. Being the largest employer in the region, Crozer not only provides ample learning opportunities but also offers potential employment for its graduates.
Crozer in alliance with Widener University is currently offering a 20-month fast-paced bachelor’s in Diagnostic Medical Sonography. To enroll in this program, you must apply through Widener University. The program offered in a hybrid format is designed to train you in general sonography. Starting twice every year in January and September, it admits only eight students each term. While the general courses are completed at the Widener campus, the DMS component is conducted at the Crozer Chester Medical Center.
To graduate you must maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA for the DMS coursework that includes courses in ultrasound of the abdomen, obstetrics, gynecology, vascular, neurosonography, medical ethics and law and cross-sectional anatomy.
9) Northampton Community College - Bethlehem
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate
At Northampton Community College sonography students are trained to communicate effectively with patients, think critically, and solve problems that are required of a sonographer while examining and evaluating patients.
NCC offers a two-year associate degree in Diagnostic Medical Sonography with a specialization in abdominal, OB and GYN. The program is offered in fall each year and is perfect for someone keen on making a quick entry as a sonographer into the ever-growing field of allied healthcare. It is a six-semester program, which includes two summer semesters. The curriculum is a fine blend of liberal arts and science. Obstetrical, gynecological and abdominal sonography, fetal scanning, vascular sonography, and psychology are some of the didactic courses you will take along with 1560 hours of clinical training.
7) Community College of Allegheny County – Boyce Campus-Monroeville
Accreditation: CAAHEP
Program Type: Associate (General Ultrasound: Abdomen, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Cardiac Ultrasound, Vascular Ultrasound)
Community College of Allegheny County is well-known in the region for its workforce training. It was established 50 years ago, and today it is playing a pivotal role in educating one in every three adults in Allegheny County. The campus, besides the beautiful rolling hills of Boyce Park, offers a student-friendly environment where academics and extracurricular activities go hand in hand, bringing out the best in each of its students.
For aspiring sonographers, CCNC offers an associate degree in three different specializations to choose from. Although the core coursework varies, depending on the specialty you choose, the general education courses remain the same. The pre-requisite coursework also remains the same for all three specializations, which includes completing courses in Medical Terminology, General Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Physics, Algebra, and English with a minimum of C grade.
General Ultrasound: Abdomen, Obstetrics & Gynecology: This diagnostic medical sonography program in PA will prepare you for entry-level ultrasound technician position with specialization in Abdominal and Obstetrics/Gynecology sonography. You must complete 77 credits to graduates. The DMS curriculum starts from the first semester and requires you to take courses in cross-sectional anatomy, introductory and advanced courses in abdominal and obstetrics and gynecological sonography, ultrasound of small parts and Doppler vascular sonography.
Cardiac Ultrasound: The Cardiac Ultrasound program requires a minimum of 74 credits to graduate. You will be trained to perform ultrasound examinations of the heart and blood vessels using high-frequency sound waves. The curriculum includes courses in cardiac ultrasound and ultrasound instrumentation and physics, to name a few.
Vascular Ultrasound: This program is designed to train you to examine the vascular system using Doppler and ultrasound equipment. The coursework requires completion of 74 credits and includes courses in vascular ultrasound, ultrasound instrumentation and one course in abdominal and OB-GYN sonography.
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