Echo Academy: Echocardiography Certificate

Expand your skills, advance your career, and boost your earning potential with Saint Francis’ Echo Academy. Our flexible certificate program was designed for working sonographers like you!

Available as
Major
Degrees/Options
Certificate
Length
2 years
Locations
Fort Wayne

Why Earn a Certificate in Echocardiography?

Demand for diagnostic medical sonographers continues to increase, and one of the fastest-growing specialty areas within sonography is echocardiography. With specialized training in imaging specifically geared toward diagnosing heart problems, cardiac sonographers are especially high in demand in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio.

9%

Increase in salary for echocardiographers in the past five years

Zippia, 2023

$81,350

Median annual salary for diagnostic medical sonographers

BLS.gov

14%

growth in demand for echocardiographers in the U.S. through 2028

Zippia, 2023

Why Choose Echo Academy at Saint Francis?

The University of Saint Francis has a long tradition of providing an outstanding health sciences education, and we continue to enhance and expand our offerings as needs in the community arise.

Echo Academy Highlights

Saint Francis’ Echo Academy was designed with working sonographers in mind:

  • Online coursework
  • On-site labs
  • Paid internship opportunities
  • Small class sizes

Sample Timeline

  • Semesters 1 and 2
    • Classes and Labs – online courses, completed on your own time; and on-site labs
  • Semesters 3 and 4
    • Clinical Internship with Parkview Health, Lutheran Health, Franciscan Health, or another location

Faculty and Facilities

As an Echo Academy student, you’ll learn from experienced sonographers and healthcare practitioners who work in a variety of settings from hospitals to outpatient clinics. 

Your hands-on lab classes will be held on site at our partner locations and at Saint Francis locations in Fort Wayne or Crown Point. Our professionally designed learning spaces feature top-of-the-line equipment, including Philips Epiq ultrasound machines.

Getting Started: Considering a Career in Sonography?

Our Echo Academy is intended for professionals already working as sonographers. If you landed on this page looking for information on how to become a sonographer, you might be interested to know that the University of Saint Francis offers a hybrid associate degree in diagnostic medical sonography.

Cardiac Sonographer Careers: Jobs in Echocardiography

Diagnostic medical sonographers with additional training in echocardiography will find plenty of career opportunities. Job titles you might see advertised for positions requiring echocardiography experience include:

  • Echocardiography Technician
  • Echocardiography Technologist
  • Echocardiographer
  • Echo Lab Technologist
  • Echo Technician/Echo Tech
  • Cardiac Sonographer
  • Cardiovascular Ultrasound Tech
  • Echocardiography Imaging Specialist
  • Echocardiography Sonographer
  • Medical Instrument Technician – Echocardiography

Additional professional experience as a cardiac sonographer could also lead to team leadership and other supervisory roles within a healthcare organization.

Where You’ll Find Saint Francis Graduates

As a leading provider of health sciences education, we see our alumni providing ethical, compassionate care across the Fort Wayne region and beyond. More specifically, graduates of our various imaging programs have started careers at places such as:

  • Adams Memorial Hospital
  • Direct Care Imaging
  • Franciscan Health Network
  • The Imaging Center
  • Lutheran Hospital Medical Imaging
  • Mercy Health Ohio
  • Parkview Health
  • Parkview Heart Institute
  • VA Northern Indiana Health Care System

Learn more about what makes life at Saint Francis so special.