There are numerous scholarships and grants for sonography and ultrasound students to help pay for school as well as for the living expenses incurred while attending school. Whether you are interested in becoming an ultrasound tech or a sonography nurse, you can get money to help you complete the program you’ve chosen in order to better yourself and better serve your community. The following 10 scholarships and grants in sonography and ultrasound are good options to consider if you are currently enrolled or planning to enroll in a sonography or ultrasound academic program:

 

1. AIUM (American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine) Scholarships
2. American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) Scholarships
3. AMVETS Department of MI Nursing and Allied Health Program Scholarships
4. Diagnostic Cardiovascular Sonography Scholarship – Alvin CC
5. SDMS Educational Foundation General Scholarship
6. SDMS Presidential Scholarship
7. Sladek Critical Medical Career Scholarships
8. Society for Vascular Ultrasound’s 2010 Anne Jones Scholarship
9. Society of Vascular Ultrasound (SVU) Scholarships
10. Trudy Dubinsky Memorial Scholarship

If you have been overwhelmed by the costs of completing a degree or certificate program in ultrasound or sonography, one of these scholarships or grants may be able to help. At the very least, it can’t hurt to get more information from these organizations and see what awards are available. Also make sure to discuss your options with the school of your choice. Most educational institutions have financial aid offices where you can get more information.

 

There may also be money available through award programs that are not necessarily designated to ultrasound and sonography students. If you are a United States veteran or the child of a U.S. veteran, you may find numerous scholarships and grants available. Clubs, fraternal organizations, religious groups and employers often provide scholarships to their members and employees as well.

Also be sure to fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) when you apply to the school or schools of your choice. Not only will this put you in the running to receive a Pell Grant; it will also allow you to see if you qualify for low-interest student loans through the federal government. There are many scholarships and grants for sonography and ultrasound.

Medical Ultrasound relies on the reflection, refraction and scattering of ultrasound waves by the body structures to produce an image. If it did not occur, none of the Ultrasound energy would return to the ultrasound transducer to be converted in to an image. The strength of reflection of the Ultrasound wave at an interface is partially dependent upon the difference in acoustic impedance of the two structures making up the interface. The greater this difference in impedance, the more of the ultrasound wave is reflected.

At the skin / transducer interface there is a very significant difference in the acoustic impedance of the two structures and therefore virtually all of the Ultrasound energy is reflected. Couple this fact with the observation that the Ultrasound has to pass through this interface twice, once on the way into the body, and once on the way back out to the transducer, and you can easily see that no significant ultrasound energy is going to return to generate an image.

Furthermore, Ultrasound passes through soft tissue at an average speed of 1540 meters per second. In air it is approximately 331meters per second. An Ultrasound machine is unable to correct for this difference, so any air between transducer and body would cause additional issues. This situation is easily alleviated by the use of Ultrasound gel between the transducer probe and the body. This effectively removes the air/skin interface and provides a transition between the transducer and skin which extensively reduces the reflection of the sound waves. Its success in doing so is very easily demonstrated by simply trying to scan with a dry transducer probe on dry skin.

So, what makes a good gel?

A good Ultrasound gel may be blue tinted or clear, but will be non-staining. It will be acoustically correct for the broad range of frequencies used in Diagnostic and Therapeutic ultrasound procedures and in Aqueous suspension. It is also important that it is Hypoallergenic, bacteriostatic, non-sensitizing and non-irritating. There are many medical ultrasound gels on the market and there is very little difference in their constitution except some are runnier than others.

Sonographers vary in whether they prefer a runny variety easily manipulated around the body during the scan, but also tending to spread outside the field of interest and wetting patients clothes; or the less runny variety, which can dry off during an extended scan (requiring additional gel to be applied) but is more easily controlled. A further difference in gel is the choice of clear or blue tinted varieties. The latter does not stain clothes but can make it easier to see where the gel is after the examination, allowing the patient to dry it off more thoroughly.