Current sonographers, did you really read every page your professor told you to?

I would say, it depends on how strict your program/instructor is. The echo program I was in was very tough and 50% of the class was known to fail or drop out so I had to be very thorough and detail orientated. The tiniest detail from the back of the chapters was on the exam bc my instructor was weeding people out. People in other programs had much kinder instructors and just focused on making sure you understood the concepts.

Since you are first starting out the program, you must accept the fact that everything will be foreign. Push through it by repetitive reading. It wont make sense at all when you read these chapters only 1 time. You have to sleep on it and read it again the next day and write down what makes sense to you and what doesnt make sense.

I would just tough it out by setting a timer of 30 min on my phone and pretend im cramming for an exam on 1 chapter just to force out the anxiety of being overwhelmed. Take breaks in between to let your brain rest bc cramming is intense. When you re-read the chapter focus on what the images are trying explain. Plan out what you think is important each time you re-read, you'll retain much more information as you get used to the chapter.

Even if you read all 4 chapters multiple times and the information just cant stay in your head, the BARE MINIMUM would be to have a list of questions per chapter to ask in class. This will prove to the instructor you're putting in the work and your brain will actively be learning and piecing together what you couldn't figure out through reading.

Do not be afraid to ask questions in class. I guarantee someone in your class will not even understand the topic. Make the instructor explain it easier and then repeat your own interpretation to them. I've missed a lot of questions bc my thought process on a chapter was completely wrong.

If you do read the chapters and it does make sense, do your future self a favor and make flash cards. Final exams will bring up old topics and you'll save a lot of time just reviewing notes and flash cards. I had a bad tendency to brain dump and forget a lot of concepts once exams were over. I would be so stressed out during finals having to relearn every little chapter again bc my notes were all over the place.

You got this, mom! It's going to be very tough studying, taking care of a toddler and working part time but I know you can multitask if you have a two year old.

This early stage is very crucial to setting a tone for yourself and where you'll stand in the program.

Sorry if this was a lot of information. I just wished someone told me this before when I first started my program bc I cried way too much during school. I felt too dumb to be a sonographer. Now I'm working in my dream workplace at a children's hospital and I don't regret being in this career. I hope youre able to figure out a schedule that works for you.

Scannin ain't easy, bro.

I did not. I paid attention in class, used my homework as study time/material, read chapter summaries and went over the presentations. Looked up and read the chapter sections on specific things I was struggling with.

Cut out social media and television and you will have more time to study. Just my advice. I went through my program with 2 kids and a job. It can be done.

I read every page, and watched every lecture multiple times. Got out with a 4.0, aced SPI and ARMDS echo, got hired full-time before I graduated. You get what you give, just sayin... Good luck!

I didn’t. My teacher pre recorded lectures though and I took notes based on those. Do what works for you, I can’t even focus reading that many pages. You got this momma.

Yes. And I also had a toddler when I was in school. It’s a balancing act, all the time.

On class days, make sure your child care is available all day, and stay at the library until very late. And make these days your “study hard days”. I would only study super hard those days, and the weekends I would take for myself and family. During clinic days, take your study materials but only study on down time. Make sure to listen to the techs trying to teach you.

You’ll be okay as long as you balance everything appropriately. Remember that going to school with a family requires a sacrifice. It’s not easy but it’s absolutely doable.

No i sucked at school. My learning started when I started working!

I did and I think it helped me a lot, especially in the beginning two semesters. I made sure to highlight important topics and write notes on the side to stay engaged. A lot of my classmates didn’t and passed just fine, but I felt prepared and stress free for exams having read all the material.

My advice is to form study group and work together. You may miss a detail that a study partner caught and together you will figure it out. Together you will learn more. In the end, your patients are counting on you to know all of it.

One or two in my program did the rest didn't.

We worked out of a few different books; I found it easiest for me to read through the chapters and write down the important bits(which was a lot)… then I’d use a text to speech app to listen to it in the car, overnight, while cleaning, napping, whatever. The best apps do cost a little bit of money and are made for blind people.

I found that I retained a lot of info passively listening to it on repeat overnight for 8hrs.

Find out if your professor gets their exam questions from the textbook or slides. That will help you determine where to place your energy. Mine only pulled from slides.

I didn't have any children at the time, but I worked a pt job and did door dash/instacart. I almost never read the textbooks but used them as references when I didn't quite understand something. I voice recorded my lectures and paid attention in class. I barely took notes in class though, just focused on taking in the information. The day after class, id go over the recorded lecture (pausing, rewinding etc to make sure I get important information) and make a detailed outline combining information on the slides with the voice recording. With this method, I never actually had to study really hard because of the repitition. Just reading doesn't work for me, I need to do a little of each (read/listen/draw or write it out). The night, or two nights before an exam id go over the recording and most of the time I knew the answers as I followed along if my professor asked a question.

For concepts that needed memorization-like physics- I used quizelet. It's an app where you can make virtual flashcards. The app/website can then make quizzes for you with the information. I found that helpful to do between accepting orders in the car.

You may need to trial and error your approach to learning especially with a toddler and working.

Good luck mama!! You've got this!

I am a current student 2 weeks away from clinicals.I have a 3.97 gpa somehow with adhd- here is my way because reading sucks.

We didn't have any reading assignments. But depending where you are in the program there are many YouTube channels like sononerds that helped me while driving like an audio book. It helped me a ton with physics, and so did drawing anatomy. Usually they have an online book option and I am someone who needs to hear the words. So if you have that you can set it to read aloud. I would listen while cleaning or driving or walking. Anywhere really.

Another is Quizlets and kahoot. You can likely find what to study there from your chapters and search the chapter number with the topic(ie; chapter 34 liver ultrasound) or dms and the topic. (ie; DMS placenta) They have multiple modalities like flashcards and quizzes. As someone who loves trivia that was the best, I found many with quiz questions that were verbatim, too.

As a neurodivergent person it was tough to go through the reading. But thankfully technology helped so much. I also appreciate chatgpt because much of the time you will find yourself being able to recognize something with key words but you can ask chat gpt to explain it to you and provide examples.

Another study tip: once you understand something don't look at it again. You got it. Only focus on what you need to learn or remember. Godspeed and good luck to you. Kick all the butts and scan all the organs.

I did in my first semester. After that, I only studied and read what I didn’t understand from class. I took very detailed notes while in class and asked a lot of questions as well.

I didn't own any textbooks. We were allowed to borrow them from the school if we felt it necessary, I never did.

Our lecture material was VERY thorough. That's all I relied upon. I was very well prepared for both clinical and the registry exams.

You get out what you put in. Please try to read everything, it doesn’t mean you have to know the material front and back but you do need to be familiar with it. I know it’s super hard when you’re super busy but ultrasound school is not for the weak. You can do it!

I’m here to give bad advice. I went to school 16 years ago, i was a single mom, my son was 1. I worked during the day went to school at night. We could miss 4 classes a month. I missed one every week. I spent time with my kid. I slept in class a lot. I was struggling. I was probably voted most unlikely to succeed. 16 years later, I’m probably one of the top people from my class, im great at my job, i now have 6 kids, we travel, life is hard. Do your best. Be kind to yourself

Honestly no, but it’s not the end of the world. I didn’t read every single page but I did scan through the chapter & when I had free time I would use it to highlight information in the chapter because you will need more time then giving in the program. (That’s why a lot of people say you will have no life because school becomes your life) you need so much time outside of the lectures & in lab in order to really have a solid foundation on the information. Learn to set aside time to go the extra mile and you’ll feel solid. For the time being the only thing I really really tried to study was the lecture notes, highlighting the book is like something to have aside from class notes because honestly the homework is so much it becomes priority, (most of my hw was based on class notes) Also during my externship I’ve found more time to study the books, this includes my SPI & ARDMS books. The most important thing you can do rn is just find a good study system for the start of the program & then figure out where you may have extra time to study the book when you have a good system.

I only used notes from my professor. I was also the student who asked tons of questions during lecture and would go see him after class if i didn’t understand it. To a point, you won’t understand it until you’re scanning. I did well in my program and landed a job at a nationally ranked hospital before graduating and I’m still learning more and more about echo through working.

My biggest tips are: try to read, participate in lectures and school activities, understand scanning and learning this takes a lot of time (I’m talking YEARS) and tons of practice, be kind to yourself throughout the process.

Goodluck!!

No. You don’t need to read every page

I read most of the assigned reading but honestly more important was paying attention in lecture and lab. I've kept the textbooks though and read a half hour here and there just to keep my new grad brain fresh. For reference, i did an abd, obgyn, vascular program.