Let me throw this into the ring (tongue in cheek of course)
Sonojournalist... telling the story with our sonograms

Phil White BS RVT

-----Original Message-----
From: UVM Flownet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of L. Collins
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 1:57 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sonographer has meaning.

Well said, Joe.  I have always found it odd that everyone finds it
"unnecessarily" arrogant 
of us--including many sonographers--to care about our professional title,
yet it's 
understandable and acceptable for other professionals to expect use of their
proper titles-
-even when not directly referring to their profession--try calling a doctor
"Mr." or "Ms." 
even socially.  Without even knowing that anyone else was sensitive to the
title issue, it 
was very important to me fresh out of school.  When a patient's family
member referred 
to me as "...just a 'photographer'...she doesn't know anything...don't ask
her any 
questions," I didn't hesitate to set him straight, and quite politely, I
might add, 
considering the anger that was bubbling inside me. 

That said, I don't think the term "sonographer" holds any more water outside
our 
profession than do "tech" or "technologist."  In my humble and often
too-sensitive opinion 
based mostly on simple medical terminology, it means "person who takes
sonographs or 
sonograms,"  and we know that in vascular imaging, it's *so* much more than
that--much 
like a photographer takes photographs.  Truth be told, that's just how
laypeople and much 
of the rest of the medical community view us.    

In fact, I remember one physician who had been "trained" not to use the
words "tech" or 
"technician" always made a point of being very sarcastic when he referred to
us by title, 
saying in a very condescending, smarmy tone:  "It's *technologist*, not
"technician," but 
you could hear the implied:  "But it's also not MD, PhD or even nurse, so
who cares?"

However, right now, I'd just be happy to be a gainfully employed "tech" or
"technician" or 
"snotographer" because unemployed is the worst title of all.

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