For the last 3 months or so, I've been studying to take my Neurosonology Registry Exam. It's been long hours, evening after evening, but I finally took it a couple weeks ago, and I passed!!!! It's such a relief!
Let me explain what this is, exactly. I'm sure you all are like, the Neuro-what? What is that??
So, technically, to perform Ultrasounds in the United States, there is no National certification required like there is for X-Ray or Nursing, etc. This is due mostly to the fact that it's never been proven that getting an Ultrasound is harmful to the body, which is why it's an imaging tool best known for pregnant women and children. There are a couple of states that now make it a requirement to work in that state you must be a "registered" sonographer. (New Mexico was one of the 1st!!! Thanks to my sonographer friends and teachers @ DABCC) Most facilities (esp. hospitals) around the country require a sonographer to be registered in at least 1 area, for their insurance purposes, mostly.
There are various areas you can be registered in which lead to various initials after your name.
RDMS- Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (5 different specialties)
RVT- Registered Vascular Technician
RDCS- Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (3 different specialties)
For those of you who don't know, Ultrasounds are VERY technician dependent. They're not like a CT or MRI, where the patient lies on a table and is put through the machine while the technician is in the other room manipulating the quality of the image. In these cases, even if the technician doesn't notice the pathology, the information is all there for the Radiologist to interpret.
With Ultrasounds, the technician is deciding what to take an image of or not, while also manipulating the machine to produce an optimal image. It's up to them to know that when they see certain things, they may need to investigate further in other places in the body in order to help the Radiologist obtain the most accurate diagnosis. If performing an Ultrasound of the kidneys (as was ordered) and they happen to see that the person has gallstones or a liver mass, are they going to take a few images and document that, so it can be fully looked into at another time? Or are they going to completely ignore it because that wasn't what was ordered?? This is why it's important to have a good Ultrasonographer performing the exam.
So, how do you know if you have a good Ultrasonographer performing the exam?? Well, the sad thing is that you can't always know, but there are things you can ask to help you distinguish.
The 1st thing that I would ask: Is the sonographer Registered?
If so, then: What are they registered in?
Like I said, there are many specialties within the categories, so the more registries they have, the better I would feel that they know what they're doing (even if the exam they're performing isn't one of the areas they're registered in). The fact that they're not registered in a specific area does not mean that they don't know what they're doing (which is why I said you can't always know) but if they have multiple registries, you should feel assured that they take their job seriously and don't just do the minumum requirement. If a person only has a registry in 1 area & has been a sonographer for many, many years raises the question of, are they just doing what is the minimum of what is required and no further, or are they just not good test takers and are actually good sonographers. You never know. Simply the fact that you are asking, should let them know that you know a little bit about their job & they'll probably take the extra time to be extra cautious not to miss anything.
So what am I registered in, you may be wondering?? Within the RDMS (registered diagnostic medical sonographer) there are many different specialties. I have been trying to get registered in as many of those as I can. I graduated in May 2006 and in September I recieved my registry in OB\GYN. After that, I followed in October of 2006 with my registry in Abdomen. And now, Sept. 2010 I now have Neurosonology.
There are many different ultrasound exams that can be performed on an infant that can't be performed on an adult or child because of the fact that the bones calcify and we can't see through them. So in an infant we can see inside the hip & look for hip dysplasia, inside the spine, looking at the spinal canal because the spinal bones aren't fully calcified, and inside the head at the brain because the soft spots of the cranium provide an optimum window by ultrasound into the brain.
So the Neurosonolgy registry is all about the newborn brain and spinal system. It may sound like not that much but, holy cow!!! There is so much to the brain that I didn't even imagine!! I've been doing newborn head ultrasounds for years now and had no idea of the complexity of it all! Luckily there's been a fully qualified radiologist interpreting the exams so as long as you take good images and good short videos clips through the brain, it all gets seen (hopefully). But can you image what little amount falls through the cracks with a sonographer that knows what they're looking at, so that they can get optimum images to tell the best story of what's really going on?
That's the importance of continuing your education and obtaining different registries. I'll have to get continuing education credits, of course. There's even an upcoming requirement for mini-tests to ensure that we stay up to date and knowledgeable in each field we obtain registries in. It's all for the good of the patient, because that's what we're all doing it for, really.
Hope this helps you all know exactly what is required of the sonographer that performs your next Ultrasound. Feel free to ask questions. Just don't expect them to tell you what they're seeing (because while they probably know, they're not supposed to interpret).
