The first-ever NDSU graduating class in medical diagnostic sonography is 100 percent employed and achieved 100 percent pass rates on their national board exams. The program is the only one of its kind in North Dakota in a partnership with NDSU and Sanford Health.
Five of the graduates are staying in North Dakota and one will be working in Arizona.
"What it means to be part of the first graduating class is that we're the future of sonographers in North Dakota that are coming from North Dakota. So that's pretty exciting, and I'll be working in Bismarck," said Madison Quandt from Oakes, North Dakota, who is part of the first graduating class.
The nationally accredited program in partnership with Sanford Health began in 2017. Students complete two or more years of courses at NDSU, followed by a 21-month full-time internship at Sanford Medical Center Fargo.
An existing radiologic sciences major at NDSU and a partnership with Sanford Medical Center Fargo allows students in the NDSU Department of Allied Sciences to select the general/vascular sonography or echocardiography option, without having to seek such specialization outside of the state.
Students graduate with a baccalaureate degree and major in radiologic sciences from NDSU and receive certificates of specialization in radiography, echocardiography or diagnostic medical sonography from Sanford.
The U.S. Department of Labor projects that the job market for sonographers is projected to grow 23 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations.
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