Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS)

Handbook Home

Program-Specific Handbooks

DMS-Specific Handbook

Program Description

See About the Profession and Our Program for complete descriptions of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program.

Program-Specific Policies & Procedures

All DMS students will be required to sign the Student Responsibility Statement.

Supervision of Students

Clinical Supervision of Students: All Diagnostic Medical Sonography students must have adequate and proper supervision during all clinical assignments as specified by individual institutional, program, and accreditation policies. The following conditions constitute adequate and appropriate supervision.

Procedure:

1. During the fall semester, direct one-on-one supervision with a staff sonographer will be provided to the student for all examination procedures regardless of type of exam or degree of difficulty. One-on-one supervision involves having a staff sonographer present during the entire procedure if a student is observing or performing an examination.
2. During spring semester, students will receive one-on-one supervision for examination procedures which, in the opinion of the supervising staff sonographer, are beyond the student’s capacity to perform without full supervision. If a procedure is determined to be within the student’s capacity to perform, partial direct supervision will be provided to the student. Partial direct supervision involves periodic checks on the student’s progress during an exam and assistance with the exam as requested by the student or at the discretion of the sonographer.
3. During the summer semester, students will receive one-on-one, partial, direct, or indirect supervision depending on the student’s capacity to perform an examination. If indirect supervision is deemed appropriate by the supervising staff sonographer, the student may perform the examination in its entirety without sonographer supervision. Sonographer assistance will be available at the student’s request. The supervising sonographer will scan after the student has completed the exam.
4. Any sonographic exam performed by a DMS student must also be scanned by a staff sonographer.

The DMS Program uses non-clinical scanning labs as a component of the program. These labs are performed under the supervision of a registered sonographer. All volunteers, including DMS students are required to sign the following form if they volunteer as a scanning model.