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Tech..what?

By Kelly Byrnes, FSVU, RVT, BS posted Tue May 30, 2017 02:39:17 PM

  
To this day, I still see articles and other blogs written about vascular ultrasound that refer to us as technicians. Technician and technologist are two different terms. Many may think they mean the same, since they are used interchangeably. When you look a little closer, however, they are different.

The difference is that the technologist has had formal education in the field of vascular ultrasound.  Think of it this way, a technician knows which button to push while a technologist knows the why behind pushing it. Simply put, their educational levels and responsibilities differ.

We have earned the title of technologist through the advancement in education and with the start of credentialing. I encourage you to correct this when you see it being used and be proud of being a technologist.

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Sun August 06, 2017 07:31:07 PM

The terms technician and technologist are actually interchangeable terms according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  A person whose job relates to the practical use of machines or science in industry, medicine, etc.   People, for some reason or another, have come to think of a technician as a service person and technologist as someone who uses technology and knowledge to solve problems.  It has nothing to go with education but a mind set.  We need to rise above this and move forward.  We are not technicians or technologists but vascular sonographers.

Mon July 03, 2017 03:06:56 PM

​I disagree. I am a Technologist and I have a 2 year degree. Where is this information that a technologist is a 4 yrs degree? I have found very few higher education institutes that even offer 4 yr degrees in sonography.

Mon July 03, 2017 02:38:57 AM

In other fields the term technician and technologist are designated by the education obtained. A technician is a 2 year degree and a technologist is a 4 year degree. So the term technician or technologist would be appropriate under the education requirements.

I am still amazed that that the vascular field continues to use either term. It is the only credential that uses a "tech" designation. Why can't we move into a different mindset and use a more inclusive catch-all designation? ARDMS is the only credentialing agency that uses the tech term and vascular is the only credential that says tech. CCI uses Registered Vascular Specialist and ARRT uses Vascular Sonographer. Only ARDMS , even after being petitioned by the SVU to change the credential name, continues to propagate the tech name.

Why not insist on raising the bar and stopping the technician vs technologist conversation completely? Advocate for a designation that is greater than the equipment we use.

I am proud to be a CCI- Registered Vascular Specialist just as I am proud to be an ARDMS Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer.