Diagnostic Medical Sonography

What is a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer?

A diagnostic medical sonographer is a highly-skilled professional who uses specialized equipment to create and analyze images of anatomical structures inside the body utilizing high-frequency sound waves. These images are used by physicians to make a medical diagnosis.

Watch: Sonography – A Sound Career Choice Video

Job Opportunities and Salary Range

Local job opportunities may be limited, but the employment outlook nationwide for sonographers remains favorable. Depending on the region of the country and type of employer, earnings can range from $25 to $49 per hour (NM $31.95 mean), with the national median annual salary of $74,320 (NM $66,460) according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2019.

Special Admissions Criteria and Required College Prerequisites

The DMS program at Dona Ana Community College is a 2-year, limited entry program that offers instruction in abdomen, obestrics, and gynecology, small parts, vascular, and pediatric imaging, as well as ultrasound physics. Students will also participate in clinical internships at imaging centers or hospitals in the region. This program is designed to provide students with the academic coursework and clinical internship experience necessary to apply for national certification examinations in the specialty areas of Abdominal and OB/Gyn Sonography.

There are 2 pathways to qualify for this program; depending on your educational background:

Certificate Program pathway is for those applicants who have either a 2-year allied health degree (i.e. radiologic technology, RN, etc.) OR a bachelor’s degree in a medically-related science (see prerequisite and admission requirements for specific content). Click here for Certificate Prerequisites.

Associate of Applied Science pathway is for those applicants whose background does not qualify them for the certificate track. This requires students to complete pre-requisite courses .Click here for Associate Degree Pre-requisites.

The prerequisite courses must be completed or in progress at the time of application to the program and the student must have maintained at least a 3.0 GPA in prerequisite courses and overall college GPA. This program is a full time program and all sonography core courses relate to each other and are only offered once during the program and therefore cannot be taken out of sequence. Students must maintain a grade of “C” in all sonography core coursework and clinical internship to remain in the program. All students are required to have personal health insurance to attend clinical internship.

Applicants with pre-requisite course work from an institution outside of the United States MUST have an official, detailed translation of their coursework into the US equivalency sent to the program from the World Education Services (WES). International applicants who do not provide official documentation of acceptable US course and degree equivalency will not be considered during the application process.

Registration for Diagnostic Medical Sonography Orientation

Interested students must attend an orientation via zoom in order to receive the application documents. Click here to register, or scan the QR code.

Mission Statement & Goals

The mission of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program is to provide high quality didactic and clinical education in diagnostic medical sonography. The program fulfills the requirements for certification through the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (ARDMS) and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (Sonography Credential) ARRT(S).

The primary goal of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography education program is to prepare competent entry-level general sonographers in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains. Fulfillment of the program’s mission is assessed by the degree to which the program achieves the following student learning outcomes:

Students will be knowledgeable in their field:
o Students will have the general and sonographic knowledge to function as a member of the healthcare team in a variety of healthcare settings
o Students will be able to collect and interpret data from charts and patients and use sound judgment to recommend appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
Students will be clinically proficient:
o Students will be able to perform a broad range of general sonographic examinations and up-to-date sonographic procedures
o Students will be able to perform patient assessment and integrate clinical history, related imaging studies, and interpret diagnostic procedures
Students will model professionalism:
o Students will be able to demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills
o Students will conduct themselves in an ethical and professional manner and function effectively as a member of the healthcare team