California Ultrasound Technician Schools

The state of California is the largest in the nation in terms of population. Taken on its own, the economy of California alone would be one of the top 10 in the world. Given the strong union presence and great employee benefits, California is a great place to work (not to mention the amazing weather and tons of activities, indoors and out!). The key to success in California? Receiving your ultrasound technician training at a California ultrasound technician school!


To do so, here are a list of schools in the state that can help you accomplish your educational goals today. The list is from ultrasoundtechnicianschools.org; we have taken the liberty of making the information tabular. Hope that helps!

Name	Address	Contact	Website
American Career College	3130 East Sedona Court, Ontario, California 91764	(951) 739-0788	www.americancareer.com
ATI College	12440 Firestone Blvd Ste 2001, Norwalk, California 90650	(562) 864-0506 x10	www.ati.edu
ATI College Santa Ana	1125 East 17th Street, Suite N251, Santa Ana, California 92701	(714) 730-7080	www.ati.edu
Career Colleges of America	5612 E Imperial Hwy, South Gate, California 90280	(562) 861-8702	www.careercolleges.org
Casa Loma College-Van Nuys	6850 Van Nuys Blvd Ste 300, Van Nuys, California 91405	(818) 785-2726	www.casalomacollege.edu
Central California School	3195 McMillan Ste F, San Luis Obispo, California 93401	(805) 543-9123	www.ccsce.org
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science	1731 E 120th St, Los Angeles, California 90059	(323) 563-4800	www.cdrewu.edu
Cypress College	9200 Valley View, Cypress, California 90630-5897	(714) 484-7000	www.cypresscollege.edu
Foothill College	12345 El Monte Rd, Los Altos Hills, California 94022	(650) 949-7777	www.foothill.edu
Kaplan College	6180 Laurel Cyn Blvd Ste 101, North Hollywood, California 91606-3231	(818) 763-2563 x221	kaplancollege.com
Lincoln University	401 15th Street, Oakland, California 94612-2801	(510) 628-8010	www.lincolnuca.edu
Loma Linda University	Loma Linda, California 92350	(909) 558-1000	www.llu.edu
Merced College	3600 M St, Merced, California 95348-2898	(209) 384-6000	www.mccd.edu
Modern Technology School	16560 Harbor Blvd., Units K-Q, Fountain Valley, California 92708-9821	(714) 418-9100	www.mtschool.edu
Mt. San Jacinto Community College District	1499 N State St, San Jacinto, California 92583-2399	(951) 487-6752	www.msjc.edu
Newbridge College	1840 E 17th St Ste 140, Santa Ana, California 92705	(714) 550-8000	www.newbridgecollege.edu
Newbridge College-Long Beach	3799 E. Burnett St., Long Beach, California 90815	(562) 498-4500	www.newbridgecollege.edu
Orange Coast College	2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, California 92628-5005	(714) 432-5072	www.orangecoastcollege.edu
PCI College	17215 Studebaker Rd #310, Cerritos, California 90703	(562) 916-5055	www.pci-ed.com
Santa Barbara City College	721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, California 93109-2394	(805) 965-0581	www.sbcc.edu
West Coast Ultrasound Institute	291 S La Cienega Blvd Ste 500, Beverly Hills, California 90211	(310) 289-5123	www.wcui.edu
Western Career College-Citrus Heights	7301 Greenback Lane-Ste A, Citrus Heights, California 95621	(916) 722-8200	www.westerncollege.edu

What are some key points to locating the ideal California Ultrasound Training Program for you?

• Distance - Make sure the commute is a reasonable distance from your residence
• Cost - In the current economic climate in California, it is important to have a reasonable budget for your ultrasound technologist training
• Philosophy - does the school teach in a style that you excel in? Ask around to be sure
• Experience - Ultrasound is very operator dependent. Make sure your program provides adequate clinical exposure prior to graduation
• Job Placement - Is your California-based school well poised and well connected with healthcare providers? Will you be able to easily transition from student to professional? Find out before you start!

Good luck finding the right Ultrasound School in California for you!

What Is Diagnostic Sonography?

This article was initially published on The Radiology Blog as "What is Ultrasound Imaging?" It provides a basic explanation of the physic behind sonography. 

There are several major modalities in radiology: plain x-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Today, we cover another major tool in the radiologist's toolbox, ultrasound.

What is ultrasound imaging or medical sonography?

Ultrasound imaging, also known as medical sonography, utilizes the principles of sound waves and physics to generate images without using radiation. Ultraound is a type of sound wave. All sound waves can be characterized by their frequency and amplitude, which denote the amount of energy carried by the wave. Ultrasound refers to spectrum of acoustic waves with a frequency above the range of human hearing, approximately 20,000 hertz.

The basic question regarding ultrasound is how are sound waves converted into a diagnostic image? The basic process involves three steps: the creation of appropriate sound waves, the reception of the echoes, and the processing of those echoes into an image. A transducer on the ultrasound machine produces sound waves in the 2 to 18 megahertz range. These waves are then transmitted into the body via an interface, typically a rubber-coated probe with a gel interface with the patient's skin in order to produce efficient transfer of waves into body tissues. Once the wave is in the body, it propagates until it hits tissue of sufficient density to create a reflection, or echo. The echo travels in reverse, eventually striking the transducer, which contains a receiver. The receiver's vibration is translated into an electronic signal. The ultrasound machine contains a processor which calculates the time it took the echo to return and how strong the echo was in order to determine which pixel on the screen to light up, and at what intensity. Repeating this process for each wave and each pixel yields the image seen on the ultrasound machine's screen. This covers the basics of ultrasound image production, but more technical discussions are easily found.

What are the benefits of ultrasound?

The main benefit of ultrasound is that it does not use radiation, which makes it safer to use in general. Ultrasound is particularly useful in pregnant women to image the fetus, as well as in newborns who are still undergoing tissue development which may be susceptible to radation. Another major benefit of ultrasound is portability. Although the machines are expensive, they can be wheeled around on a cart, which makes it easy to do bedside imaging or imaging on critical patients who cannot be moved easily. Furthermore, this reduces expense as a dedicated ultrasound facility is not necessarily needed.

What are the applications of ultrasound?

Ultrasound has applications in nearly every field of medicine. Some of the most prominent are cardiology, obstetrics, gastroenterology, and gynecology/urology. In cardiology, ultrasound in combination with Doppler sonography is used to produce echocardiograms, which assess both the structure of the heart as well as flow within the heart. Obstetric ultrasounds are very common, and are used to track healthy pregnancies as well as diagnose problems in difficult pregnancies. In gastroenterology, ultrasound is better at producing images of certain pathologies, such as biliary disease like gallstones and liver imaging. For urology / gynecology, ultrasound is used to image the kidneys, bladder, ovaries, and other pelvic structures for a variety of pathologies.

For more information on radiology topics, including other modalities such as CT or MRI, check out The Radiology Blog.