The VCU College of Health Professions will be home to Virginia’s only baccalaureate concentration in diagnostic medical sonography starting this fall.
Admission is open through the spring for a two-year track for certified radiologic technologists seeking bachelor degrees focused on sonography training. The concentration is part of the college’s Clinical Radiation Sciences program.
The College of Health Professions also offers a three-year sonography track for students with no prior medical imaging experience. The first cohort of these students will start classes this fall and enrollment for this track will re-open in November. Diagnostic medical sonography, also known as ultrasound, is an imaging technology that uses sound waves to image the body. Unlike radiography and nuclear medicine technology, diagnostic medical sonography does not use ionizing radiation and has an expanded role in medical imaging including areas such as obstetrics, gynecology and abdominal imaging.
Establishing a diagnostic medical sonography concentration in the Clinical Radiation Science program has been a goal of the College of Health Professions for nearly two decades, said Jeffrey Legg, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Radiation Sciences.
“Our sonography education will serve the health care facilities in Central Virginia and be a resource for local sonographers,” Legg said.
Yonella Demars, director of the diagnostic medical sonography concentration, notes that new students will be among the first educated in the new 154,000-square-foot College of Health Professions building, scheduled to open in fall 2019.
“Incoming students will have access to a variety of sonography equipment and educational technologies that will enhance their learning and opportunities,” Demars said.
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