The Average Salary of an Echo Technician
Two forms of medical diagnostics use the sound waves in a patient's body to help diagnose conditions. Echocardiography uses sound waves emitted by the heart as a means for doctors to investigate cardiovascular health, while doctors use sonography to diagnose a multitude of conditions. Training for each is different, and both types of technicians have different career paths.
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Average Echocardiograph Technician Salary
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The average echocardiograph technician earns a median salary of $61,341 as of February 2011, according to Salary.com. The half of all echo technicians with the highest average salaries earn between $55,157 and $68,056 annually, although the 10 percent with the highest wages earn $74,169 or more annually. Technicians who earn salaries in this range hold a certification after passing the Echocardiography Registry exam. All technicians' experience levels are included in this salary survey.
Echocardiography Career Hotspots
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An echocardiography technician with a taste for high wages may consider relocating to San Jose, California, where technicians earn the highest average salary for their profession in America, $73,620 as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Technicians in Allentown, Pennsylvania, earn the second-highest salaries in the country, averaging $69,760. Technicians in Salinas, California, McAllen Texas, and Pueblo, Colorado, round out the nation's Top 5 high-paying areas, all earning more than $65,000 in each location.
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Echocardiography Training
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Although licensure and credentials are not required to work as an electrocardiograph technician, many technicians receive them as part of their formal training. Most EKG technicians must complete an associate's degree program that specializes in EKG technology before they find work in their field. Because examinations and credentialing are voluntary, few concrete standards exist for training and minimum-skill requirements, and a small handful of EKG technicians train on the job under the supervision of an experienced technician.
Average Diagnostic Sonography Salary
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Diagnostic sonographers emit sound waves into a patient's body and analyze the echoes produced to create images of tissues within the body. Because this is radically different from EKG technology, there is little overlap between the two fields. The median annual salary for diagnostic sonographers is $61,298 as of May 2008, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. As with EKG technicians, no formal licensing process is in place for sonographers, and most train in two-year and four-year college programs before they enter the workforce.
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References
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