How To Become An Ultrasonographer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an ultrasonographer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Ms. Ann Walker

With regards to Ultrasonography, there's significantly more than meets the eye. Ultrasonographers are clinical experts who use ultrasound and imaging gear to frame pictures of numerous pieces of the body to assist specialists with diagnosing and treating numerous ailments. These sonographers should guarantee that the pictures are incredible by working imaging gear and checking on those pictures so they can be valuable for determination.

They are needed to plan patients for ultrasound test methods while giving legitimate instruction all through the test. Ultrasonographers should likewise survey the clinical history of patients and organize care with different offices inside the emergency clinic. Ultrasonographers make a normal compensation of $68,761 each year or $33.06 per hour. Individuals on the lower end of that range, the base 10% to be definite, generally make $57,000 every year, while the top 10% make $82,000.

For Ultrasonographers, the most generally required schooling level is an associate degree. Ultrasonographers most usually study clinical professional, business, or wellbeing sciences and administrations. 41% of Ultrasonographers hold a partner degree, 22% hold a four-year college education, and 5% hold a graduate degree.

What general advice would you give to an ultrasonographer?

Ms. Ann Walker

Interim Program Director

Although it might not be ideal, it is imperative to work as close to full-time as possible for the first 1-2 years following graduation. Becoming skilled at sonography within the first 2 years, especially independently, is extremely difficult and often unlikely for new sonographers who take on part-time or PRN positions. It’s all about repetition and getting exposure to every patient with every level of difficulty and pathology on a consistent basis. I would never recommend a sonographer with less than 2 full-time years of experience to attempt any type of travel ultrasound. In addition, not allowing yourself to become over-confident right out of the gate is something I feel very strongly about. We may think that our clinical experience was broad enough to give us an ample foundation to feel extremely confident, but sonography is a field that is often very humbling, and it is our patients that suffer the consequences of our negligence when we rely on false confidence. I would recommend new sonographers to work in a facility that has seasoned techs who are available, even if just by phone of FaceTime, at all times for advice and input, and take every opportunity to absorb their input as you grow your scanning and critical thinking skills.

ScoreUltrasonographerUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,249

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 85.41%

male 14.59%

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 an ultrasonographer

Explore ultrasonographer education requirements

Most common ultrasonographer degrees

Associate

54.0 %

Bachelor's

34.6 %

Diploma

5.1 %

Start to develop specific ultrasonographer skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	22.74%
Patient Care	12.16%
Radiology	6.00%
OB-GYN	5.52%
RDMS	5.09%

Complete relevant ultrasonographer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New ultrasonographers 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 an ultrasonographer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real ultrasonographer resumes.

Research ultrasonographer duties and responsibilities

Prepare and achieve ACR accreditation for the department with an almost perfect score.
General ultrasound, vascular, small parts, biopsies and amniocentesis.
Perform diagnostic scans including all vascular studies, ABD, GYN and small parts imaging.
Perform ob-gyn, small parts, breasts, general and vascular exams including bedside/portable exams.

Prepare your ultrasonographer resume

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

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