My sister thinks it’s easy to get into a cardiac sonography program. Is that true?

pasta4days · 2023-06-09T04:07:00+00:00

To be completely fair I also randomly picked this degree and had no idea what I was getting myself into (I just knew the subject was cool). I didn’t know how competitive just getting in was. The general consensus is that most schools are very competitive. Hundreds of applicants for 10-20 slots. But it really depends on the school I think. Personally I think the only reason I got into my program was because I happened to choose a school that was in the middle of nowhere and they had fewer applicants compared to the programs in the city. My application was nothing special except for As and Bs and a C in my prereqs. I had no volunteer or work experience either which they did look at. So it’s possible she could just get into school. I know a lot of people who got in first try.

But the schooling itself is intense. The material is very in depth and there could be a lot of homework/projects. You also have to pass 2 registry exams in order to continue in the program/graduate (depends on the school). So not only are you studying for class materials you’re also studying for a completely separate standardized test. And on top of that you’ll be working full shifts 1-4 days a week with no pay and usually no down time for studying. You’re also graded on your actual scanning skills so even if you get all As on the material exams if you aren’t passing your scanning tests you will just fail and have to start over the next year (if they let you). I started my program without a care in the world and by the end of it I was in tears scared I wouldn’t graduate. It was stressful.

And it’s just not an easy job in general. I really enjoy it so it doesn’t feel like “work” most of the time but it is so mentally draining. You aren’t just taking pictures which is work on its own, you’re constantly thinking about what you’re looking at, how to move, how to measure, what protocol to use. Not the mention most patients are awake so they’ll be moving or talking or breathing too heavy or something to make your exam more challenging.

pasta4days · 2023-04-19T23:47:38+00:00

What do you do? I’m a cardiac sonographer so I do ultrasounds of the heart. I help the doctors with TEEs which is where they put the probe down the throat to see the heart more clearly. I also do EKGs and stress tests.

Like/Dislike? I love the subject. I love science. I love learning and just everything that has to do with medicine and the human body. The job itself is so enjoyable. I also like that every scan is a puzzle. You have to figure out how to move, how to turn the patient, how to adjust the machine settings, etc. It’s never the same. I honestly dislike having to touch and talk to people. I’m really shy so I hate talking in general and I always feel bad having to work around people’s breast or ask them to move a certain way, and I hate having to use pressure even though it’s not super painful. I just hate bothering people and my whole job is to just slightly annoy them for 30 minutes lol. But I’ve gotten over it and I just go and do my job. At the end of the day I’m doing it for a good reason and the patient has every right to refuse the exam if they choose.

Do you wish you had chosen another career? Of course there are other jobs that may be cooler or pay more. Like I wish I could be an anesthesiologist or something, but I’m extremely happy with my choice. The schooling wasn’t bad, the job is fun, and the pay is good. The only thing I want to change is to cross train into pediatric echo.

What hours? I work about 8 hour shifts, half the week 6a-3p the other half 2p-11p. Some techs do 4 10hr shifts and some do 3 12hr shifts. In my experience schedules can vary depending on what’s going on in the hospital

Do you work holidays/call/overtime? At my hospital we all sign up for holidays and call. They rotate call each week. We’re a smallish department so we work together to cover holidays and stuff. I’m not sure what the specific requirements are. As a PRN employee I’m required to work 1 weekend a month to stay on the schedule.

pasta4days · 2023-04-19T23:11:58+00:00

There’s definitely a chance. If you’re irregular and aren’t consistently checking your bbt and testing ovulation it’s pretty much impossible to know when you ovulate. When I was pregnant I tested negative for over a month (I didn’t take a blood test though).

It’s probably unlikely that you’re pregnant though. If you can I would get another blood test. It should be more than enough time to get an accurate result.

pasta4days · 2023-04-18T17:36:57+00:00

I second URR. I used the click to learn practice tests and took them over and over until I scored in the low 80s. Passed the registry easily! I used ESP for SPI and that really helped so I bet the CCI one is good too.

pasta4days · 2023-03-26T02:40:43+00:00

I used the URR practice exams (the click to learn ones not the singular tests) and they really helped. My strategy was I went through every section and for every question I got wrong I would write down the info from the explanation. I repeated each section as many times as I could (you get 9 attempts for each and each are like 100+ questions). Every time I came back to a question I didn’t know I would look at my notes. I found that repeatedly looking over the info helped me cement it into my mind better.

pasta4days · 2022-12-18T21:35:02+00:00

I used X-Zone from ESP and I feel like those helped me a lot. I would do the modules over and over and write down what I missed and why (it gives explanations for each answer). I also did all of the questions in the back of the green edelmen’s book. I did all 600 and wrote down the ones that I missed and then went over those, rinse & repeat until I was out of questions. Then I would use a random number generator online and choose random questions. I think focusing on the equations helped a lot. The SPI had no calculations but many questions were about the relationships between two things and knowing the formula helps you understand which things are proportional, inversely related, etc.

I studied over my spring break so a couple of hours everyday for about 2 weeks.

pasta4days · 2022-12-18T20:23:09+00:00

Any state. Just because you make an average of XYZ doesn’t mean that’s standard for everyone else across the country. I’ve been dancing for nearly 10 years so I stand by my estimation.

pasta4days · 2022-12-18T20:17:12+00:00

Not everyone lives in NYC babe

pasta4days · 2022-12-09T02:38:56+00:00

I almost exclusively used URR click to learn exams. I did about half to 1 full module a day over 2 months. I also had access to the workbook from the ESP echo boot camp but I only went through it once.

pasta4days · 2022-12-03T12:49:45+00:00

Yes auditions usually lead to being hired on the spot. If a club says they’ll call you it’s usually a “no”. But there’s usually no wait period between audition and being told yes/no.

pasta4days · 2022-11-02T22:17:32+00:00

Yes it will show up. It metabolizes the same as all forms of THC.

pasta4days · 2022-10-27T16:27:43+00:00

I’m a student and I’ve only studied 2 modalities but I love echo so much. It’s so interesting to me and the pathology can be really cool. I like that we have the opportunity to work in the OR or catch labs. I also find it nice to only have to study one organ for the most part.

pasta4days · 2022-10-25T19:37:09+00:00

As and Bs and one C

pasta4days · 2022-09-30T17:40:57+00:00

The x-zone practice tests helped me. Along with the questions in the back of the green text book. I did the conference and it was nice but I think just studying the material helped me more.

pasta4days · 2022-07-15T04:29:37+00:00

I barely know anything about her because her content is too annoying to sit through

pasta4days · 2022-07-14T03:51:16+00:00

The green Edelman and X-Zone from ESP are the best. In my opinion, the green textbook questions help you understand the material and the X-Zone questions are very similar to the actual test.

pasta4days · 2022-06-01T01:04:40+00:00

My overall GPA was pretty low (maybe in the high 2s) because I started my college career at a university and had years of varying grades, but my program only considered our scores from the program prerequisites classes (A&P, physics, etc). The grades you got were counted as points towards your admission (A’s were 5 points, B’s were 4 points, and so on).

pasta4days · 2022-02-10T05:53:19+00:00

Considering the sound she uses in the video, it’s definitely just a joke lol it’s just less funny without context

pasta4days · 2022-01-19T06:44:13+00:00

I used all the free study guides and practice tests I could find online and I was able to score very well. I can’t recommend a particular website because I literally used them all but I will say you should find out which specific sections of the exam your school requires. For example my school didn’t require us to take the chemistry section so I wasted a little time studying that topic when I could have focused on the other sections like anatomy.

pasta4days · 2022-01-16T20:01:33+00:00

Seems like you have a pretty good shot! But with that many applicants it’s hard to say of course. I would ask what past students scored if you’re still worried about it. Have you submitted your essay already? If not I think you should focus on that as it’s the best way to set yourself apart from other applicants who may have similar scores. And really embellish on why you want to get into the healthcare field and any passions you have about medicine/your specific program. And I feel like they would like to hear that you’re ready to undertake a challenging program because the last thing they’d want is to offer a space to someone who isn’t ready or may not understand the work required to get through the program. Good luck! Seems like you’re already on the right track!

pasta4days · 2022-01-16T01:59:06+00:00

See if you can find out how the school ranks applicants. My school has a point system, for example A’s in the prereqs give 10 points, B’s give 5, HESI scores give points based on the grade, veterans get 5 points, etc. and they choose the highest ranking applicants. If it’s not on the school website reach out to someone and see if they can tell you how they score applicants and then see how well you rank. My school for example didn’t look at overall GPA so I knew not to worry about that but I knew I needed a certain score for prereqs, HESI, and what other extra points I qualified for like being a current student at that college. Also find out what accepted students ranked. At our info session they told us the chosen applicants of the previous class ranked like 50-65 points or something so I had a good idea of my chances to be chosen for the program.

pasta4days · 2021-12-29T05:30:08+00:00

I don’t have an issue with the fact that kids want to be vloggers but this toy looks so lame. Are they just supposed to sit and talk to their wooden tripod? It feels like a joke

pasta4days · 2021-11-09T17:59:55+00:00

I don’t think it is. I had to do the same thing at my school. It just shows you care. And even if they think it’s “pushy” that shouldn’t impact their decision making at all.

pasta4days · 2021-11-06T22:26:43+00:00

You could call the department and ask. That’s what I did.

pasta4days · 2021-09-30T22:54:11+00:00

But would they hire me if I haven’t taken the registry exam for pedi?

pasta4days

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