Sarah McCabe describes a typical day as a BCIT Diagnostic Medical Sonography student.
This is a day in the life of a BCIT Diagnostic Medical Sonography student—albeit, every day in this program was a bit different!
I should mention this program requires you to put in extra time outside of regular classes, to practice scanning. My preference was scanning before classes started, so I would be in the lab around 7:30 am, usually three times a week.
A typical day during the academic semester
8:30-10:20 am: Cardiac Sonography lab. I would have to change into a hospital gown, which makes it easier for someone to scan me. First we get a breakdown of what we’ll be learning in lab. Then we practice scanning (e.g., apical window for looking at the heart). I scan my partner for 45 minutes and then they scan me for 45 minutes. We then go through our images with the instructors and learn where we can improve.
10:30 am-1:20 pm: I have a long break. Usually I’ll do homework or have a look at the next lab class to prepare in advance. Otherwise, I may have signed up for extra scanning practice.
1:30-2:20 pm: Sonography Physics lecture. We usually have homework due every week.
2:30-3:20 pm: Abdominal and Superficial Structures lecture. In addition to the lecture, we also have some online videos to watch to help solidify the knowledge.
3:30-4:20 pm: Pathophysiology lecture. One assignment was to write a paper about a pathology that is related to Sonography. I wrote mine about Zika virus causing fetal brain abnormalities.
4:30 pm: Drive home.
6 pm: Eat dinner. Then do homework, go to sleep, and repeat all over again tomorrow!
Learn more about the courses in the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program.
(Story written by Sarah McCabe)