You should expect a staff of Sonographers who are ready and willing to help you learn this craft. While there may be some who are in the process of becoming registered, the majority of the Sonographers should be registered in at least one of the specialties that you are learning. If you have been assigned to a site that has no registered Sonographers, ask to be moved to another. You need experience behind those whom you are counting on to teach. You need to know they have studied and learned competencies and proficiencies, and will, therefore, be able to give you good information.

The willingness to teach is also an important aspect. Unfortunately, there are some Sonographers out there who have knowledge but are unwilling to share. The reasons are varied. Some do not feel they are good at teaching, others are not comfortable enough with the knowledge themselves, and still others just do not like to be bothered. Teaching is hard, it takes a tremendous effort on the part of the teacher, but Sonographers all owe it to the profession to be a part of the process. We were all in your shoes once, learning a new and difficult task, and we have all relied on others to bring us through. Remember the arduousness of the job and be kind to those trying to teach you, but do not tolerate someone who is completely unwilling or worse tries to sabotage your learning process. Get help with that person from the Clinical Supervisor, the school, or sometimes even other Sonographers or students who have found a way to work with them. If you have a whole department of unwilling Sonographers to deal with ask for another clinical site. If the next site is the same, perhaps the problem is with you. As harsh as that may sound, you must examine the problem from all aspects. It is worth mentioning again that no Sonographer likes to think that they are working harder for your education than you are. Make sure you are putting in the effort.

A department with multiple Sonographers is much preferable to a department with only one or two. In smaller market areas, you may not have much of an opportunity to work with multiple Sonographers, but if you have that option take it. You should learn from as many people as possible; watch as many Sonographers as possible. We each have our own way of doing things, and you can learn a lot by taking bits and pieces from everyone. The experienced Sonographers has modified their way of doing things through the years as they have learned little tips and tricks to get or enhance an image. The newly registered Sonographer may remember those basics in a way that will help you remember. Every Sonographer brings something to the table. Learn from them all. You can even learn from bad Sonographers and Sonographers who have picked up bad habits, just be sure to recognize those bad habits by having a Sonographer with good habits around. If two people do the same task drastically different, ask about it, find out their reasons for the way they do it.

I also think it is important to learn in an institution in which an interpreting physician is present. Some small and rural places may only have access to a Radiologist (or Cardiologist or other interpreting physician) through tele-radiography. In those instances, Sonographers usually get very little feedback. That is fine for someone who has years of experience, but for the student or new Sonographer it can be a disaster. There is no one to ask questions of, no one to bounce ideas off of, and no one to tell you if your images are good or bad. Unfortunately many times in these institutions, the interpreting physician reads whatever is sent to him/her for interpretation. They will sometimes even state in the report that the study is substandard, and may not take the time or energy to interact with the Sonographer who performed the study to try to improve the exam or image quality. That is simply not helpful to the learning process, or to patient outcomes. You need an interpreting physician present. One who is involved. Someone who is willing to go over images, discuss findings and outcomes. These physicians have a wealth of knowledge, and you can learn a lot from them.