Surprising Career Paths for Sonographers

Welcome to part two of our deep dive into career paths for sonographers! If you missed part one, we discussed the clinical roles sonographers can grow into. In this article, we’ll take a look at other ultrasound industry jobs as well as potential roles in sales and product development. Some of these options may surprise you!

Ultrasound Industry Jobs 

If you’re ready to say “Bye, Felicia” to the clinic without exiting the ultrasound industry, we’re happy to share that there are plenty of options for you to explore! 

How to become an ultrasound educator 

Ultrasound educators are vital to the industry. With an ongoing shortage in this highly specialized field, we need high-quality educators more than ever.  

Here’s how to start adding educator skills to your skillset: 

1. Get comfortable speaking: Public speaking is a large part of a teacher’s role, so it’s a good idea to gain as much confidence as possible before making a long-term commitment to a school. 

2. Get organized: Other educator tasks include building curriculums, managing class schedules, and posting grades. If you can read between the lines, you’ll see that those tasks mean you’ll need to do a lot of organizing—of your time, tasks, and resources. 

3. Interpersonal communication skills: The teachers who make the most impact on students are the ones who communicate best. Whether that means making lessons more engaging or connecting on a personal level, improving your classroom communication will make you a standout contributor to your students’ careers. 

4. Consider an advanced degree in sonography: Earning an advanced degree will help you stand out among applicants and smooth the road to promotion within the educational sector. 

How to become a DMS program director 

Speaking of which... how would you feel about becoming a diagnostic medical sonography program director? This person oversees the creation and maintenance of the program, hires faculty, and forges strong industry connections. 

Here are some ways to get a head start:  

1. Start with adjunct or faculty roles: Experience as an educator will help you better understand how the program works. You’ll also be able to identify opportunities for improvement, which you can take with you into a director role. 

2. Stay updated: Accreditation paperwork isn’t the most dazzling part of the role but is vitally important. You’ll also need to keep an eye on regulatory changes. Look at it this way – you'll always be on the leading edge of ultrasound practice changes! 

3. Build relationships: Industry connections will be vital in this role, so we hope you’re a people person. Among other things, you’ll partner with healthcare facilities and sonography companies to provide clinical hours for students and job opportunities for new grads. 

4. Build your network: This is so important that we listed it twice. Consistently making new contacts will be vital to the growth of your program, so get ready to shake hands with ultrasound industry organizations, community groups, recruiters, and more.  

🤝 By the way... did you know we work with DMS directors from all over the country? It’s true! Contact us to learn more about how we can help each other.

How to become an ultrasound researcher 

You don’t have to pursue this avenue exclusively—you can become a published researcher in whatever role you hold!  

Let’s break down some steps to take that will make this path easier: 

1. Become a reviewer: Publications are always looking for reviewers. Reviewing others' work will familiarize you with the language, format, and expectations for authors. 

2. Start where you are: Did you know new research isn’t necessarily required to become a published author? It’s true! Try a literature review. Your job will be to pull new insights or make a new argument based on previously published information. 

3. Gather requirements and submit: Before you start your study, review the requirements for the journal you’re targeting and the type of article you plan to submit. If you’re looking for potential journals to submit to, here are a few: Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cardiovascular Ultrasound, and Journal of Clinical Ultrasound. 

4. Onboard feedback: Reviewers can seem picky, but they’ll help you achieve the highest standard. You’ll know about this firsthand if you start as a reviewer yourself! Remember not to take it personally. Just make the suggested edits and resubmit. 

How to become a public speaker 

Let us tell you a secret: all it takes to be a great public speaker is practice! Anyone can learn to share their knowledge from a stage, and as an expert sonographer, we know you have something worthwhile to share. 

Here’s how to become a dynamite speaker: 

1. Get comfortable on a stage: Most people fear public speaking, but it gets a lot easier when you start small. Get some practice by joining a program like Toastmasters or presenting to coworkers. Personally, we love hearing from teammates who have recently attended a training or conference.  

2. Submit abstracts: When you’re ready to take the leap, you’ll likely need to start by submitting an abstract. Think of an abstract like a resume for your presentation, kind of like this. Not sure how to identify a good topic? Think about what you and your colleagues are interested in. Or identify topics you can speak to with authority or from a unique perspective. 

3. Build a presentation: When your abstract is accepted, it’s time to build your presentation. You may receive a template to use, but if you don't, a program like Canva, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Apple’s Keynote can help you out. Remember to practice several times and adjust your slides as needed. 

4. Network at events: After you’ve nailed your presentation, stick around. Make yourself available for questions (or compliments), and don’t be afraid to let others know you’re pursuing more speaking opportunities. 

How to become an ultrasound influencer 

This relatively new career path can be combined with many other roles. If you’ve got expertise and a platform, you can be an influencer. 

Here’s how: 

1. Be an active community member: Sonographers are a passionate community with an especially strong social media presence. If you’re not already involved, start small by sharing a few posts and commenting on others’ posts. 

2. Build community: To start building a community around you or your brand, focus on something that makes you unique: your modality, your attitude or vibe, or the particular information you choose to share. For example, if you love keeping up with new trends, you may decide to research new ultrasound technology and give your thoughts as a potential user. 

3. Engage, Engage, Engage: This is something many people get wrong. Here’s the thing: social media isn’t for broadcasting. Social media is for being social. You need to comment on other profiles and posts, respond to comments on your posts, and share others’ content. All of this engagement helps you join the larger conversation and grows your community. 

4. Monetize: If you want to make this a profitable side gig (or full-time gig!), you’ll need to find ways to monetize your content. As a member of the ultrasound community, we highly recommend working with industry brands and companies (like yours truly). 

Ultrasound Product and Sales Jobs 

We truly want sonographers to stay in the industry. There is a talent shortage, and we need you so much! But, if you want to put your sonographer expertise to use in another way, there are options. We’re not going to dive deep into these, but we want you to know they’re available: 

• Clinical product managers help design and develop new ultrasound technology. 

• Technical writers prepare manuals and guides so that others can use new ultrasound technology. 

• Sales executives and managers sell ultrasound equipment and services to healthcare facilities. 

• Clinical applications specialists train others on how to use ultrasound equipment and new solutions. 

Your clinical experience is a big differentiator for these roles, often puts you ahead of other applicants, and makes you highly valuable to companies that partner with health systems and clinics. 

Get started—become a sonographer! 

We hope this breakdown of potential career paths inspires you to join the sonography industry. We believe in the future of this industry so much that we put our money where our mouth is—in the form of a scholarship!  

We offer $500 to help a deserving sonography student advance in their career twice a year.