When I was in high school, I remember a classmate telling me she wanted to be an ultrasound tech. Back then I thought it sounded cool, but I didn’t know much about it. At that point, I was already planning to go to UW-Stevens Point to major in biology. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my degree the whole time I was a student there. The semester before I graduated, I did some research and came across sonography. I always thought it was just scanning babies all day, as many people assume. When I looked into it, I realized that you can look at almost any part of the body with ultrasound, so I was excited to learn more. During my time at UWSP, I took all the anatomy, physiology, and medical-related classes that I could. Because of this, I had all the background knowledge and prerequisites completed to start the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program at NWTC right after I graduated from UWSP.
The program was extremely challenging, but I had the support of two amazing teachers and five awesome classmates. This group became my second family for two years and we learned, struggled, and improved together. During my last semester of this program with just two months and one more clinical rotation to complete, COVID-19 started and there was so much uncertainty about how we were going to complete our schooling. We all got sent home from our clinical sites indefinitely and never got to return. We had a few weeks off from classes before we were finally able to go back to the lab and continue scanning. We were able to complete all the practical exams needed to fulfill the requirements to finish the program, but we never had a graduation ceremony. After two years of hard work, it seemed very anticlimactic. Although it was a disappointing end, I came out with another degree and a ton of new knowledge and skills that I was ready to put to use.
Since many things were shut down by COVID, it took me a few months to find my first job in ultrasound. Later that fall, I got hired at the OB/GYN clinic at Madison Street at Ascension, before it transitioned to Women’s Health Specialists. This was a part-time role scanning female pelvises and pregnant women only. Although I loved these types of exams, I didn’t want my skills in scanning other body systems to go to waste so soon after graduating. I took a PRN position at another hospital doing a general ultrasound. At this job, I picked up shifts and worked call and holiday hours. I quickly realized I did not love those hours! I am thankful for the opportunity to learn more and use my skills in general, as well as obtain my vascular and breast credentials, but I decided to leave that job after a year and a half and start working full-time at Madison Street.
Although I am still relatively new to sonography, I have learned so much about ultrasound, medicine, pregnancy, and more. I am always searching for more tips and tricks to fully utilize the machine to improve my imaging. I strive to ask questions of the physicians to gain more knowledge of the OB/GYN field. One of the things I love about being an OB/GYN sonographer is the variety in my day. No two days and no two patients are ever the same, which keeps things interesting. I am very passionate about what I do, and I love educating anyone who will listen about the human body and ultrasound!