September 2004 | Vol. 22, No. 9

Nova Southeastern University Offers Training in Vascular Sonography

by Terrence D. Case, MEd, RVT
Assistant Professor, Program Director
Bachelor of Health Science in Vascular Sonography
Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

As vascular technologists, we bear the responsibility of providing accurate and reliable information to the interpreting physician so that he or she may help manage the patient with vascular disease. But what training qualifies us to perform this important task? Physicians, lawyers and nurses have established educational models that award them professional degrees. However, the training of vascular sonographers varies widely and negatively affects our ability to be recognized as a “profession.” To that end, Nova Southeastern University (NSU), a not-for-profit, private institution in Fort Lauderdale Florida, will soon become one of only a few programs in the country to provide a Bachelor of Health Science in Vascular Sonography.

The vascular sonography program at Nova Southeastern University requires two years of post secondary, general education credits. Successful applicants enter the programs as juniors and spend a full year on campus studying basic courses such as anatomy and physiology, ultrasound physics, and vascular disease and testing protocols, as well as courses in writing, ethics, epidemiology and leadership. Each afternoon will be devoted to three hours of ultrasound laboratory training. The senior year will require nearly 2,000 hours of clinical training in a vascular laboratory where students will also continue on-line courses. The design of the program is to graduate knowledgeable and skilled sonographers who are prepared to seek leadership positions in vascular laboratories, education facilities and research institutions.

One of the greatest challenges for the program is to graduate students who will meet the needs of vascular laboratories on a nation-wide basis, not just in the region where the school is located. NSU is proposing articulation agreements with community colleges throughout the country in locations near vascular laboratories interested in taking students for externships. An articulation agreement is like a partnership whereas the community college can provide the general education courses and the university can focus on those courses related to vascular technology and sonography.

The student would enter the local community college and fulfill general education requirements for the freshman and sophomore years. Upon completion of those courses, the student will transfer to NSU in Fort Lauderdale for one year of intensive didactic and laboratory training. The student would then return to his or her hometown for the externship, continue supplemental on-line training and graduate with a Bachelor of Health Science in Vascular Sonography.

Another benefit of training vascular sonographers at the bachelor degree level is that it would help vascular sonography as a profession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a government agency which generates data on all aspects of the American workforce, doesn’t even recognize “vascular technology” except in the subtext of cardiovascular technology. We should not shy from aspirations of higher education standards but rather take the lead.

In summary, in just 12 months of development, the program at NSU is full and students are already applying for next year. It is clear, that the more ambitious and brighter students are seeking programs at a bachelor level. This is not a goal that is out of reach. And to those who have always wanted to teach, there are many of us who would be more than willing to help. In ending, I find this quote from Henry Brooks Adams to be particularly appropriate, especially in the field of vascular technology education: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

Editor’s Note: In addition to the new BHS in Vascular Sonography degree program at Nova Southeastern University, two other schools offering BS degrees in vascular technology are the Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL.