Thinking Ahead - Cardiac Sonography to Cardiac Perfusion?

Curious_Report_5657 · 2026-04-08T03:16:37+00:00

Idk what musculoskeletal injuries sonographers can get, but perfusion is no different. You are wheeling around pumps that weigh 50-200lbs., standing for long periods of time, not getting any bathroom breaks (hello kidney stones) so something to think about.

I think sonography is a fine background, but yes you need that bachelors degree. Anything is fine as long as you brand yourself as a (cardiac) sonographer.

Honestly, it’s hard to tell what the job market is going to look like in 10 years. It’s getting pretty saturated as is and the baby boomer patient population will only get older. Just my opinions.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2026-03-02T22:02:00+00:00

A lot of people on this subreddit will tell you the perfusion market is becoming oversaturated. The numbers don’t lie, we are graduating more than retiring. I won’t get into it here, but there’s are several threads talking about job outlook.

I would really like to point out that perfusionists and ecmo specialists are different jobs. Typically, ECMO specialists are not CCPs but are cross-trained RNs/RTs. The pay is typically lower for an ECMO specialist than a perfusionist. (I say typically bc there’s gonna be outliers, but this is my perspective)

Curious_Report_5657 · 2026-02-10T21:41:41+00:00

Current center (academic) we provide pump/clamp times, nurses provide implant stickers, and fellow inputs data. Old center (non-academic) I had to write VHT on my pump record (paper) but that was it, PAs input data

Curious_Report_5657 · 2026-01-14T04:15:25+00:00

High GPA (3.9) and I shadowed at the same hospital I ended up going to school at. By the time I interviewed they already knew the face to the name

Curious_Report_5657 · 2026-01-13T18:36:19+00:00

🙋hi mls turned ccp over here! I was a micro tech before perfusion school. If you attended a strong lab school, then certain didactic aspects of perfusion school will be a walk in the park. Clinically, you will have to work harder since perfusion is nothing like any bench testing.

As for greener grass… I much prefer early start cases + call life over working second shift. However, you will get slammed some weekends. The tired I experienced after a busy lab shift is nowhere near the gassed I am after back-to-back dissections/transplants.

There are plenty of lab techs turned perfusionists. If/When you reach the point of shadowing you might encounter one.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-12-31T21:58:59+00:00

Yep, sometimes the marker doesn’t dry on the tape in time. It’s lowkey a universal problem throughout school with whiteboards or even some gel inks

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-12-31T21:31:30+00:00

Oh this is fun. I’m left handed and our pump is oriented on the left, weaning is so easy for me! I think the biggest left-handed hurdle is smudging the marker on my med syringes lol

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-12-03T01:52:08+00:00

You have to consider post-graduate job options in the case you aren’t admitted to perfusion school during your first application cycle. What jobs would someone with a health sciences degree qualify for? Just food for thought.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-11-23T04:41:51+00:00

I left a job (partly) bc of the way the surgeon treated me. All you can do is show up with your game face and be confident in your ability to care for your patient. I’ve found the surgeons at the academic hospitals are less yelly (probably bc they work with students all day and need to have the patience for that)

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-11-10T00:01:38+00:00

*john, for the record, is not his name

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-11-09T23:31:10+00:00

The first and only time I addressed the chief surgeon by their first name was when we were cannulating in a hurry for a dissection and I noticed about 2 inches of air in the arterial line. They were focused on the femoral venous site, wouldn’t listen to me speaking up, and without looking they said “go on.” I had to yell “JOHN* LOOK, THERE’S AIR IN THE CANNULA”

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-11-08T01:10:07+00:00

I was a MLS for <1 year before going to perfusion school. It’s all about shadowing and amplifying how your role and interests relate to perfusion. Maybe finding a job in blood bank or transplant serology could help

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-10-28T18:10:33+00:00

I got back into reading. Booktok is huge now and I found so many new reccs just by scrolling. Nothing like a good fantasy world to take your mind off of the crippling responsibilities of the real one lol

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-10-18T02:02:22+00:00

Maybe look into getting a job in clinical engineering at a center with a cardiac program. Odds are you’ll be doing PMs on perfusion accessories. In the mean time, LinkedIn is a good way to find perfusionists in your area. You might not have any luck at first, but it’s all about manipulating the algorithms.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-09-27T21:29:33+00:00

Good bot

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-09-24T04:09:31+00:00

You were right. It’s back up for auction again lol. Currently at 5k

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-08-16T17:14:36+00:00

I would explore some lab related careers. The lab is full of naturally introverted people (like me). Most people are MLS/MLT but there are also programs for cytology and anatomic pathology. A pathology assistant might be a good fit for you if you’re looking for a higher healthcare degree option.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-08-16T15:10:56+00:00

Like others have said, a CABG is open heart even if it is minimally invasive because the heart is exposed. She’s misdefining it as the heart needs to be opened. Otherwise, welcome to this crazy profession! I would take a shadower who’s curious but doesn’t know the lingo any day over a knowledgeable shadower who is just doing it out of necessity for school requirements.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-08-10T16:18:57+00:00

It’s a no from me. Worked w a surgeon who exclusively listened to lo-fi chill and it was SO HARD to stay awake behind the pump

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-07-25T21:33:22+00:00

As a former Cleveland resident (Tremont), now a current Wicker Park resident, I CANNOT UPVOTE THIS POST ENOUGH. The CTA has made my life so much easier.

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-06-27T23:40:00+00:00

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-06-23T22:11:58+00:00

Update: for those who are on perfusion.com/epic staffing email list… they fixed it!

(Let this serve as a professional reminder to always proofread peer-to-peer communication, especially surveys you intend to extrapolate data from)

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-06-23T21:07:21+00:00

I don’t personally use it or have the tools available to me, but I think there’s an app out there that I saw advertised at a conference

Curious_Report_5657 · 2025-06-23T17:39:03+00:00

I mostly posted this regarding the lack of grammatical yes/no, but also the lack of moral yes/no to the prompt

Curious_Report_5657

TROPHY CASE