Owens sonography program aims to strengthen health workforce

FINDLAY — When local healthcare leaders saw a workforce gap, they turned to Owens Community College to train the next generation of cardiac sonography professionals. Using experience gained from the diagnostic medical and vascular sonography programs, the administration, faculty and staff at Owens built a program to fill the need. The 10 graduates coming out of the first cohort this spring will be ready to immediately sit for national registries after the cardiac sonography program received accreditation with no citations on the first review from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in February. The CAAHEP accreditation is sought after by employers because it ensures quality education standards and allows graduates to be automatically eligible to sit for their national registries. Receiving zero citations on the first accreditation review was a rare achievement that speaks to the quality of the program and education the students receive. "I've done a couple accreditation visits and that hasn't happened before," said Julie Posey, chair of the sonography department at Owens. "We've always had something, it's their job to find something. It was an amazing feeling to have zero citations." Graduates of the cardiac sonography program will step into a profession that is projected to grow by 14% through 2030 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with an average salary of $85,226 annually according to the American Society of Echocardiography. Having long-standing CAAHEP accreditation for diagnostic medical and vascular sonography programs allowed Owens leadership to use them as a model for the cardiac program. The two-year process started before any students were enrolled in the program, leveraging the proven track record and graduate data already available from the other programs. Owens conducted a self-study, student assignments and clinical competency documentation, virtual site visits and a critical review of all program materials. The accreditation process was a team effort from the sonography department. Posey said full-time faculty members Mary Sizemore and Kenzie Zesing were instrumental in guiding the accreditation effort. Dr. Denise Smith, Owens provost and vice president of academic affairs, said cardiac sonography is the 45th unique program at the college to receive accreditation, approval or recognition from 20 different accrediting bodies, "which speaks to the high standards we have established to ensure our students receive an education that is rigorous, relevant and aligned with industry expectations." Posey said the high interest in a cardiac sonography degree in northwest Ohio is continuing. The second cohort has 10 individuals, and the interest remains strong among incoming students. "We're keeping up the enrollment in the program. Students want to be a part of this program," Posey said. "We're seeing a big excitement there for the number of students that are applying and want to be a part of it. It's just an exciting thing." To learn more about the cardiac sonography program at Owens, please visit owens.edu. You can find more information on CAAHEP at caahep.org.