Ultrasound Awareness Month

From the ARDMS:

Ultrasound Awareness Month

October is Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month

ARDMS is celebrating Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month in October.  This month and throughout the year, ARDMS encourages Registrants and ultrasound professionals to raise medical ultrasound awareness.

With ultrasound’s increasing role in medicine, one of the main goals of Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month is to provide the public with a better understanding of ultrasound and its many uses in health care. 

Here are some ways to educate the public, raise medical ultrasound awareness, and celebrate your profession during Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month: 

1. Tell your patients you are certified: The mission of ARDMS is “quality care and patient safety through the certification and continuing competency of ultrasound professionals.”  Share with patients that you are certified by ARDMS, that you had to pass a series of rigorous examinations to earn the certification, and that as a result, your patients are receiving the highest level of care. To assist you in sharing information with your patients, use the ARDMS brochure entitled, “Understanding Sonography...and the Importance of a Certified Sonographer.”  If you are interested in receiving this brochure, send an e-mail to communications@ardms.org and we will add your name to distribution efforts.
    
2. Educate patients about the different terms of Sonography:
   • Sonography - using the reflections of high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to construct an image (a sonogram) of a body organ or to observe fetal growth or study bodily organs.
   • Ultrasound – the use of ultrasonic waves for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, specifically to image an internal body structure, monitor a developing fetus, or generate localized deep heat to the tissues.
   • Transducer – a device that receives a signal in the form of one type of energy and converts it to a signal in another form.
   • Sound wave – a wave that transmits sound
   • Sonographer – a specialist in the use of Sonography; a person who performs the sonographic exam (ultrasound).
      
3. Celebrate your accomplishments: A recent study found that 97% of ARDMS Registrants feel proud to have earned an ARDMS credential.  Share your accomplishments with colleagues and patients by displaying your credential certificate at your facility, sporting the ARDMS Registrant patches on your scrubs or lab coat, or wearing the ARDMS lapel pin. To place an order, click here.  
    
4. Encourage your colleagues to become credentialed: The reasons Sonographers become credentialed varies widely. According to an ARDMS survey, many active Registrants sought certification as a personal career goal, to distinguish themselves as competent in the field, to elevate the profession of Sonography, to expand career opportunities, or because it was a condition of employment.  Share your personal story about becoming certified with your colleagues and encourage them to join you in earning an ARDMS credential.
    
5. Be a Mentor: Offer to lend a supportive hand to students and those new to the profession of Sonography. Impart your clinical expertise through hands-on scanning, share the full scope of the day-to-day experience of a Sonographer, and encourage and celebrate efforts by others to become ARDMS certified. 
    

Check-out the Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month resources offered by other sponsoring organizations.

1. American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM)
2.  Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS)