School of Cardiac Sonography

Overview

St. Joseph’s Health cardiac sonography program is a highly specialized certificate program that produces graduates who are knowledgeable, compassionate, and skilled healthcare professionals. Graduates of the program are prepared to perform diagnostic procedures in an adult echocardiography setting. Students begin the program by learning the fundamentals of heart function and physiology, as well as concentrating on core, didactic, lab, and clinical cardiovascular courses related to adult echocardiography. Specialty areas of the program include evaluation of the heart, its valves and chambers, and associated vessels through the performance of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), and stress echocardiography (SE).  

The approximately 11-month program comprises an initial ten weeks of evening classroom instruction. Classes for this portion will be held in person Monday - Thursday, 3:30 pm - 9:30 pm, as scheduled. Instructors will focus on didactic classroom instruction, with a concentration on anatomy, basic equipment operation, as well as a lab element focused on fundamental skill development in cardiac ultrasound. The remaining 36 weeks involve a 4 day commitment, including 28 hours per week of clinical hands-on instruction at our training sites and one half-day of lecture.

Students may rotate their clinical training in multiple locations in order to provide a broad range of clinical experiences.  

• Clinical experiences are divided into 3 rotations, and students will be at a consistent site for the duration of each rotation
• Clinical sites may be located up to 60 miles outside of Syracuse. Students will be responsible for their own transportation.  
• Clinical rotations consist of 8-hour days, 3.5 days per week, starting between 6:30-8 am.

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St. Joseph's Health School of Cardiac Sonography is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography.

St. Joseph's Health Sponsoring Organization

Our sponsoring organization, St. Joseph Health, hosts an advanced, vast, nationally recognized Cardiovascular Institute. 

The many accolades include:

• Ranked among the top 15 hospitals in the US to have cardiac surgery by Consumer Reports and among the top 10% in the nation for cardiac surgery by Healthgrades
• 8th hospital in the nation to receive American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence Accreditation
• ICAEL accredited Echo lab • Five-Star Recipient for Coronary Bypass Surgery by Healthgrades
• Five-Star Recipient for Valve Surgery by Healthgrades

Experiential Learning

Clinical Internship

The 36-week internship provides hands-on experience at one or more approved medical facilities. During this time, students enhance and refine skills previously learned, perform complete sonographic examinations in real clinical settings, and advance their knowledge in recognizing anatomy and disease states using a variety of equipment. At the assigned facilities, students work side-by-side with sonographers, physicians, and other healthcare professionals to learn, develop, apply, and sharpen the necessary skills to perform quality echocardiograms. Students’ clinical progress and performance are closely monitored by the program director and preceptors. Additionally, students return to the classroom one morning per week for lectures, presentations, projects, and testing. Students may be eligible to complete a portion of their clinical internships at another approved regional or national medical ultrasound facility with approval of the program director. Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for CCI or ARDMS certification upon completion of the program.  

Tuition

$24,000

Applications and Admissions

For consideration to the St Joseph’s Health School of Cardiac Sonography, individuals must present a strong academic and professional background. They need to demonstrate responsibility, confidence, a character of high moral integrity, good interpersonal skills and compassion.

Prospective students must meet one of three available pathways to be considered for the program.

A bachelor’s degree in any field or higher 
OR 
An associate’s degree in any field and:

• 8 credits or 2 semesters of anatomy and physiology
• 3 credits or 1 semester of college mathematics course
• 1 course in medical terminology
• A minimum of 2.5 cumulative GPA

OR 
A high school diploma, or equivalent, AND completion of a minimum of 12-months (or 1200 hours) of training in a health care related field. The program(s) must include clinical time spent providing patient care. Applicable fields include, but are not limited to: registered nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, respiratory therapist, LPN, paramedic.  

The most competitive candidates will possess:

• A GPA of at least 3.0
• Previous experience in patient care
• Previous experience in cardiology 

Curriculum