Colorado has several schools offering programs for radiography students wanting to specialize in ultrasound. Ultrasound technicians and technologists are diagnostic medical sonographers who typically specialize in obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), but the field can be broader. Sonographers are also called ultrasonographers. Diagnostic medical sonographers use high frequency sounds waves to produce images under the direction of physicians to help detect and diagnose injury or disease.
Red Rocks Community College - Arvada
Red Rocks Community College offers both an Associate of Applied Science and a certificate of completion in diagnostic medical imaging (ultrasound). The five-semester program takes approximately 21 months and is available at the community college's medical imaging department at its Arvada campus. Lab instruction and practice supplement classroom time and coursework. The college has three tracks in its diagnostic medical imaging program. Diagnostic medical sonography focuses on the abdominal areas as well as obstetrics and gynecology. The other two areas of specialization are vascular technology and adult and pediatric echocardiography. The school's website says its graduates can find entry level work in doctors' offices, hospitals, ultrasound and sonography specialty offices and outpatient care centers. The program accepts 16 to 20 students per year and is highly competitive, according to the college's website.
Red Rocks Community College
Medical Imaging Education Department
Arvada Campus
5420 Miller Street
Arvada, CO 80002
303-914-6033
rrcc.edu
Pueblo Community College
Pueblo Community College (PCC) offers an Associate of Applied Science and a certificate of completion in diagnostic medical sonography (ultrasound), with a focus on the abdomen and obstetrics/gynecology. Courses include vascular ultrasound, OB/GYN ultrasound, abdominal ultrasound and ultrasound physics. The community college says its program is for students who already have either a bachelor's degree or a two-year degree or certificate in a patient-care field. According to the college's website, its students are prepared for work in urgent care clinics, radiology hospital departments, outpatient imaging centers and private doctors' offices. PCC's program is four semesters.
Pueblo Community College
Diagnostic Medical Sonography Department
Health Science Annex Building
900 W. Orman Ave.
Pueblo, CO 81004-1499
719-549-3196
pueblocc.edu
University of Colorado Denver
The University of Colorado Denver has a program for students who have already earned a two-year Associate of Applied Science in radiologic technology, respiratory therapy, surgical technology, radiation therapy and other specialties, or those who have a bachelor's degree in a medically-related field with coursework in physics, biology and algebra. It is not an entry-level program. Coursework includes a focus on abdomen and small parts, ultrasound physics, OB/GYN, carotid artery sonography, neurosonography and peripheral vascular ultrasound. It also has introductory courses in adult and fetal echocardiography.
The program is 12 months of classroom time, lab training, and hands-on experience. It accepts seven to nine applicants per year. Applicants must have taken college level biology, physics and algebra within the past seven years.
University of Colorado Denver
Department of Ultrasound
1635 Aurora Court
Aurora, CO 80045
720-848-6363
uchsc.edu
Tags: Community College, Applied Science, Associate Applied, Associate Applied Science, Colorado Denver, medical imaging, obstetrics gynecology