How To Become An Echocardiographer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an echocardiographer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Ms. Ann Walker

A non-invasive screening procedure is used by an echocardiographer, also known as a cardiovascular technician, who uses an echocardiogram that evaluates the anatomical heart. The bulk of the work of the echocardiographer involves the echocardiogram transthoracic technique in which a transducer is used to relay sound waves through the heart from the chest region of the patient. The wave echoes are then sent to the echocardiogram and video images are transformed into multidimensional cardiac data.

The echocardiography activities are largely restricted to the planning of the work and monitoring of the ultrasonography system in the transesophageal where a sample is implanted in a patient's esophagus by a physician. The basic requirements of the echocardiographer are a high school diploma or equivalent. Associate's, bachelor's, or certificate including instruction in invasive and non-invasive cardiovascular techniques, are also available for echocardiographers.

A license is not mandatory but you are strongly advised. When an echocardiographer gets a job, there are ongoing medical educational requirements. They should possess strong communication skills in addition to being expert technologically, as most of the time they deal with patients.

What general advice would you give to an Echocardiographer?

Ms. Ann Walker

Interim Program Director

Although it might not be ideal, it is imperative to work as close to full-time as possible for the first 1-2 years following graduation. Becoming skilled at sonography within the first 2 years, especially independently, is extremely difficult and often unlikely for new sonographers who take on part-time or PRN positions. It’s all about repetition and getting exposure to every patient with every level of difficulty and pathology on a consistent basis. I would never recommend a sonographer with less than 2 full-time years of experience to attempt any type of travel ultrasound. In addition, not allowing yourself to become over-confident right out of the gate is something I feel very strongly about. We may think that our clinical experience was broad enough to give us an ample foundation to feel extremely confident, but sonography is a field that is often very humbling, and it is our patients that suffer the consequences of our negligence when we rely on false confidence. I would recommend new sonographers to work in a facility that has seasoned techs who are available, even if just by phone of FaceTime, at all times for advice and input, and take every opportunity to absorb their input as you grow your scanning and critical thinking skills.

ScoreEchocardiographerUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,111

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.0

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.26%

Asian 8.77%

Black or African American 4.17%

Hispanic or Latino 10.39%

Unknown 4.43%

White 71.98%

Gender

female 66.23%

male 33.77%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress Level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.9

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.2

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become an echocardiographer

Explore echocardiographer education requirements

Most common echocardiographer degrees

Associate

47.0 %

Bachelor's

33.1 %

Certificate

8.0 %

Start to develop specific echocardiographer skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	18.08%
Echocardiography	10.57%
BLS	8.31%
ARDMS	8.05%
Echocardiogram	8.05%

Complete relevant echocardiographer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New echocardiographers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an echocardiographer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real echocardiographer resumes.

Research echocardiographer duties and responsibilities

Produce EKG recordings for diagnosis of heart disease.
Perform adult and pediatric echocardiograms, transesophogeal echocardiograms, exercise and dobutamine stress echoes.
Reconcile charges for EKG's, echo, stress echo and nuclear studies as needed.
Complete all necessary paperwork, maintain accurate patient records, transmit all images to PACS and verify proper transmittal of images.

Prepare your echocardiographer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your echocardiographer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an echocardiographer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Echocardiographer Resume templates

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Apply for echocardiographer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an echocardiographer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams