Editorial: Examining medical scans

Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005 | 9:16 a.m.

In the past year, students at two private medical sonography schools have accused their institutions of not properly training them to get jobs once they graduate. Late last year, the state Commission for Postsecondary Education yanked the license of Western Technical Institute for various infractions that included failing to meet basic requirements for certification examinations.

Last month, two former students of Las Vegas' American Institute of Medical Sonography accused instructors of not preparing them for certification by the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography. Such certification is now required by many medical institutions. These students paid $15,000 for a 50-week course that promised such preparation, only to find themselves prohibited from taking the exam because their program wasn't nationally accredited.

Few, if any, institutions will hire them. And their class credits cannot be transferred to the Community College of Southern Nevada, which runs the valley's only nationally accredited sonography program.

It is less expensive to attend CCSN, but its program takes two years to complete. That is why some students opt for the expensive private programs that promise full training in less than a year. CCSN also can only accept 12 students per year as there are only spaces for that many in the 25 medical facilities that offer internships on a rotating basis for CCSN students.

National accreditation is an arduous and expensive process that officials of private programs may not bother with unless their state's standards require it. Nevada's Board of Medical Examiners should set sonography training standards so that all programs are accredited and graduates are eligible to take the test for registry certification. Ultrasounds lend important information, such as the presence of heart disease or the gender of an unborn child. Those who give these tests should have consistent, thorough training.