How To Become A Medical Sonographer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical sonographer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Ted Whitten

Medical sonographers are professionals who create images of body organs and tissues to help diagnose medical conditions. Their job is to ensure the diagnosis is done properly. They prepare patients for procedures by taking their history and helping them relax before the procedure. They also make use of imaging equipment which is prepared before each procedure and is maintained regularly. To get desired diagnostic images, they operate the equipment and analyze the images for quality and coverage. The images are also analyzed to provide physicians with preliminary findings. Also, they record findings and track patient's records. Medical sonographers can specialize in different body parts. Abdominal sonographers, breast sonographers, and musculoskeletal sonographers are some of the numerous specializations.

Medical sonographers require a degree in a related discipline when applying for a position. They must possess technical, analytical, and interpersonal skills. They also must be able to pay attention to details. On average, their salary is around $73,774 yearly.

What general advice would you give to a medical sonographer?

Ted Whitten

President, Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography

According to the U.S. Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics, "employment of diagnostic medical sonographers is projected to grow 17 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. Employment of cardiovascular technologists and technicians, including vascular technologists, is projected to grow 5 percent from 2019 to 2029, faster than the average for all occupations." https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/diagnostic-medical-sonographers.htm#tab-6

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted sonography like it has many other professions. At the beginning of the pandemic, some sonographers were furloughed due to temporary closures of outpatient imaging centers or offices, as well as cancellation of most non-urgent sonography exams in the hospital setting as hospitals planned for expected inpatient surges. While many sonography departments have returned to near normal workflows and volumes, the impact of the renewed surges of COVID-19 patients across the country remains to be seen. Some sonographers have also reported inadequate access to personal protective equipment (PPE) in some parts of the country.

ScoreMedical SonographerUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,737

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.26%

Asian 8.77%

Black or African American 4.17%

Hispanic or Latino 10.39%

Unknown 4.43%

White 71.98%

Gender

female 76.54%

male 23.46%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.2

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical sonographer

Explore medical sonographer education requirements

Most common medical sonographer degrees

Associate

53.4 %

Bachelor's

24.1 %

Certificate

8.6 %

Start to develop specific medical sonographer skills

Skills	Percentages
Ultrasound Equipment	19.87%
Radiology	19.09%
OB-GYN	18.74%
Ultrasound Procedures	10.21%
Pacs	6.77%

Complete relevant medical sonographer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical sonographers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical sonographer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical sonographer resumes.

Research medical sonographer duties and responsibilities

Perform ultrasound procedures, doppler vascular examinations, abdominal studies and color-flow ultrasound, OB-GYN procedures as required.
Perform high quality ultrasound procedures in the areas of abdomen, gynecology, breast, thyroid, and testicular
Perform vascular procedures to include venous insufficiency/reflux and DVT studies, carotids, arterial Doppler imaging.
Execute diagnostic procedures applying prescribe methods of ultrasound technique and produce diagnostic images using Doppler, abdominal and/or pregnancy ultrasound.

Prepare your medical sonographer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical sonographer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical sonographer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical sonographer resume templates

Build a professional medical sonographer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical sonographer resume.