Certificate of Achievement in Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Foothill College

A diagnostic medical sonographer is qualified by professional credentials and academic and clinical experience to provide diagnostic patient care services using ultrasound. The scope of practice includes those procedures, acts, and processes permitted by law for which the individual has received education and clinical experience, demonstrated competency, and completed the appropriate credentialing, which is the standard of practice. Coursework includes using sonography relevant to gynecology, obstetrics, abdominal subjects, superficial structures, and vascular applications. The Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program was established in 1984. It is accredited by CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs) in conjunction with the CoA Committee on Accreditation, known as the JRC-DMS (Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography). After eighteen consecutive months of competency-based classroom, laboratory, and clinical preceptorship instruction, students receive the Certificate of Achievement and may choose to complete an Associate in Science degree option. Students are eligible to take the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) exams. Program Goals: To prepare competent entry-level diagnostic medical sonographers in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains for the abdominal-extended and obstetrics and gynecology sonography concentrations.