The field of Diagnostic Medical Sonography contains many wonderful organizations dedicated to both students and professionals. We have received a few questions lately regarding some of these organizations and what they do. In fact, in one of our articles we actually mixed up one of the organizations purposes ourselves and were promptly contacted by the CEO to correct matters. He was gracious enough to point out our error and for that we sincerely thank him.

In light of this, we wanted to provide a hepful resource for prospective students and professionals. We have highlighted some of the main organizations that matter for ultrasound technology in this article, but if you know of more organizations that help ultrasound technicians and medical imaging professionals, please let us know so we can continue to update this post!

Here are some of the main organizations and how they help us:

Professional Organizations:

A professional organization is typically a group of specialists in a chosen career field that share common interests and needs. For example, for diagnostic medical sonographers, they need continual information on the latest technologies, patient care, regulations that affect them, and even discounts on things like insurance.

 The SDMS is the leading professional membership organization for diagnostic medical sonographers. Their stated official purpose is to  promote, advance, and educate its members as well as the medical community as a whole about the science of Medical sonography. Both active sonographers as well as students enrolled in a medical imaging program can join the SDMS. Some of the membership benefits provided by the SMS include the Journal of Medical Sonography, an industry wide salary and benefit report, updated monthly news , various educational resources including certification preparatory products and Continuing Medical Education opportunities.

 The AIUM is another leading professional membership organiziation. Their mission statement is to advance the safe and effective use of ultrasound in medicine through professional and public education, research, development of guidelines and accreditation. They are similar to the SDMS in that they offer such benefits as educational opportunities, monthly news updates, and even insurance discounts. They also provide a career center that helps professionals or students find ultrasound related jobs. Finally the AIUM through their AIUM Ultrasound Practice Accreditation Council provides standards for the accreditation of ultrasound practices. You can find out more about this program here:

http://www.aium.org/accreditation/gettingStarted.aspx

Certification Organizations:

These organizations are responsible for adminsitering examinations and awarding credentials to those who pass the exams. If you want to become known as a registered professional, these organizations will be responsible for awarding you this title if you meet all the appropriate criteria. Generally, becoming registered is a very good idea and often is the only way someone will be considered for an opportunity. This is true even though that passing certification tests is voluntary.

 This organization is an independent not-for-profit that administers examinations and awards the following credentials:

• RDMS – Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer
• RDCS – Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer
• RVT – Registered Vascular Technologist
• RPVI- Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation

Credentials awarded by ARDMS document personal achievement of recognized professional standards and are widely accepted in the medical community by sonography and vascular professional organizations.

The best link to see the Exams and Credentials offered by the ARDMS is Here:

http://ardms.org/credentials_examinations/

 The ARRT is another not for profit organization that administers creditionals and assures quality patient care through recognition of advanced training and certification.  Certification is the initial recognition of an individual who satisfies certain standards within a profession. Employers, state licensing agencies, and federal regulators look at the ARRT credential as an indication that a person has met a recognized national standard for medical imaging, interventional procedures, and radiation therapy.

Some key links for Sonographers on the ARRT site to review are as follows:

1. https://www.arrt.org/Certification/Sonography
2. https://www.arrt.org/education/

Accreditation Organizations:

These organizations ensure quality of institutions, programs, and services measuring them against a defined agreed upon level of standards. In the case of post-secondary educational programs, there are two types of accreditation: institutional and program based.

 The CAAHEP is the largest programmatic accreditor in the health sciences field. If at all possible we HIGHLY recommend that you make sure your schools Ultrasound Technology program is accredited by CAAHEP. It will make your life much easier in obtaining further credentials and advancements in your career. If you are confused about the different types of accreditation (don’t worry we were at first too) here is a nice description from the CAAHEP.org website:

Institutional accreditation helps to assure potential students that a school is a sound institution and has met certain minimum standards in terms of administration, resources, faculty and facilities.

Programmatic (or specialized) accreditation examines specific schools or programs within an educational institution (e.g., the law school, the medical school, the nursing program). The standards by which these programs are measured have generally been developed by the professionals involved in each discipline and are intended to reflect what a person needs to know and be able to do to function successfully within that profession.