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Are there any DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL SONOGRAPHERS out there?!? help please!?

Hello, and thank you so much for reading my post. I am currently a Certified Medical Assistant. I am recently graduated and I am looking for work to build up my experience in the Health Care Industry. I have been thinking a lot about furthering my education to become an RN, but what I really want to do is go to school to become a Medical Sonographer. I have done my online research and what I've come up with is: 1. I need to find a school that is CAAHEP accredited. 2. The closest accredited school to me (Sacramento, CA) is Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences in Richmond, CA. This isn't really all that close to me...about 2 hours. So, I went on their website and I found out all the things I need to do in order to enroll in the program and, I must say, it intimidated me a little. It says that there is a large amount of people that apply to get in, and of course there is only a limited number of people that they actually accept. So, I guess my question is...How probable is it that I will become a Sonographer? And, is this really the only option I have as far as schooling? Like I said, I live in Sacramento. If i got into this school how would I even afford to go to school? I guess I'd have to move? I have a toddler and boyfriend that would need to go with me. And as of right now we don't have the money to move. We don't have any family members that would be willing to help us out in that department either. I guess this is more like a sappy realization that I probably will have to settle for that RN rather than achieve my real goal....I could really just use some guidance....Thanks. sunflower - thank you so much for your thoughtful answer....sad to say, i breezed through my MA program. (i had far under a 4.0) It's not that it was particularly hard its just...i HATED my school, it was a rip off and a scam. I know that I am a smart person and would dedicate myself to an institute such as Kaiser....but i really feel like i could never have a chance at a school like that. I guess all i can do is try...? Wish me luck.

Public Comments

1. You're right, you do need to attend a CAAHEP accredited program - this allows you to take your boards immediately after you graduate, so you can be a Registered Sonographer. These programs are competitive, because as you've seen, there aren't that many out there. My program in particular had nearly 50 applicants with 4.0 GPA's, and only 12 were accepted in. It came down to our scores on an aptitude test. So make sure you work hard in your pre-requisite classes - that will help determine when/if you get in. And by the way, you should be able to take any necessary pre-reqs at a local tech college and just transfer your courses when it's time to apply. Is there any way you could move? That would be the ideal situation, even if you could only move 1 hour or so closer to the school. I live about 1 hour and 10 minutes from my school, and it is tough, but it can be done. And it's worth it just to be going through an accredited program. Try to figure something out rather than just "settling." Nursing is a tough field, I can't imagine how hard it would be to stick it out knowing your heart's not really in it. Good luck to you, I hope you can work something out to follow your passion. :) *EDIT: No problem. Just try to find a technical college so you don't go through another program that's a rip off and may not fully prepare you for the field. I don't know much about Keiser, so I can't say for sure, but I think they are a trade school.