Written Communication: You will organize and express ideas clearly through written communication in a manner appropriate for the intended audience.

For the written communication core skill, I set two SMART goals. My first goal was to become more efficient in the structure of grammatically correct sentences. The second goal was to learn how to write a properly cited essay while informing my audience. The classes that helped me to complete this project are ENG 111 as well as Introduction to Sonography.  In each of these classes, I was taught the basics of what I would need to know in regards to effective writing skills while in the Sonography program. This included how to compose grammatically correct sentences and compose an APA style cited research paper.

For this assignment, I was instructed to choose a case from my clinical site that showed a pathology. I have selected to use an artifact, Thyroid Case Study, completed in my Case Studies class that I took in Fall 2015.  I was instructed to obtain all of the pertinent medical history of the patient, perform the scan, obtain the images, and follow up with the radiologist and any other doctors treating this patient to see .hat the diagnosis was as well as what the next steps towards treatment may be. Upon obtaining all of this information, I condensed my work into a power-point presentation as well as an APA style essay.

This skill is important in my personal, academic, and professional life because it demonstrates that I am effectively able to communicate via writing. My strengths in this core skill area is proper grammar. My weakness in this core skill are is proper citation.

By completing this assignment, both of my SMART goals were met. This project taught me how to structure sentences effectively as well as cite my sources in order to make sure that I wasn’t plagiarizing my work.

Oral Communication: You will organize and express ideas clearly through oral communication in a manner appropriate for the intended audience.

For the oral communication core skill, I set two SMART goals. My first goal was to be able to confidently speak in frot of an audience. My second goal was to speak proficiently and effectively. The classes that contributed to this core skill are COM 110 and SON 120. My communications class really helped me to understand how to speak effectively to a crowd. It also taught me not to use filler words such as “like” and/or “um”. SON 120 was my first experience at clinical. This taught me to effectively communicate verbally with radiologists and other sonographers as I was explaining any pathology found during the exam.

For this assignment, I was instructed to choose a case from my clinical site that showed a pathology. I have selected to use an artifact, Thyroiditis Case Study Oral Presenattion, which I completed in my
Case Studies class in Fall 2015. I wrote an APA style essay on my findings as well as prepared a power-point presentation. This power-point was discussed through my verbal explanation of the case findings.

This skill is important in my personal, academic, and professional life because it demonstrates that I am able to verbally communicate with other people. Verbal communication is one of the most important factors of a healthcare team in order to provide proper patient care. My strength in this core skill area is speaking clearly. My weakness in this area is overcoming my fears and speaking confidently.

By completing this assignment, both of my SMART goals were met. This project taught me how to portray confidence as well as speak effectively so that I can get my thoughts across to my audience in a professional manor.

Collaboration & Teamwork: The learner will apply the basic principles of individual or group behavior to current and future challenges of working and collaborating with others with respect to diversity and global issues.

For the collaboration and teamwork core skill, I set two SMART goals. My first goal was to effectively work with my partner to make sure the work is split fairly. My second goal was to ensure that our individual and group tasks were completed in a timely manor. The class that contributed most to this assignment and core skill is SON 140. In this class, I became familiar with the female reproductive system along with the most common abnormalities and pathologies that we may see while working in the field of sonography. My pre-requisite General Psychology class helped as well. It helped to explain why people operate the way they do and how I need to be understanding of different learning, working, and personality traits of others.

For this assignment, my partner and I were instructed to create a teaching project on uterine fibroids. I I have selected to use an artifact, Uterine Fibroids Teaching Project, which I completed in my Gynecologic Sonography calss in Fall 2014. We decided to split the work in half and each of us created a section of the power-point presentation.  Once the presentation was finished, we worked together to add images in order to provide visual aids to our audience. We also made edible fibroids (popcorn balls with pink sugar) to pass out to the class as a treat. We presented our project to the class as a team and each of us took turns speaking.

This skill is important in my personal, academic, and professional life because it demonstrates that I am able to effectively work with others and be a member of a team. My strength in this core skill area is my willingness to be flexible with my teammate when it comes to who wants to complete different parts of an assignment. My weakness in this area is the amount of time is takes to collaborate ideas before I can get started on a group project.

By completing this assignment, both of my SMART goals were met. This project taught me how to work together as a team to reach a common goal in a timely fashion. It also taught me to respect my peers as well as their opinions. We worked efficiently to divide the work between the two of us and review final outcome together. Just like when you are completing a difficult ultrasound study and you need an extra set of eyes, sometimes when you are working on a project, two heads are better than one.

Technology: You will choose and utilize appropriate technologies to access, organize, and analyze and communicate information.

For the technology core skill, I set two SMART goals. My first goal was to use proper techniques on the ultrasound machine in order to create a diagnostic study. My second goal was to be able to critically think through the Right Upper Quadrant protocol and create an organized study. The classes that contributed most to this assignment and core skill are SON 120 and SON 130. During SON 120, while at clinical, I was able to use the ultrasound machines on a daily basis. It is important to understand how to work the machines in order to create a diagnostic study for the radiologist. While performing a RUQ scan, the sonographer should make sure the overall gain is properly set, the correct transducer is selected and the correct preset is selected. It also important that you adjust the frequency, PRF, TGC and color gain as needed.

For this assignment I was instructed to create the RUQ protocol as if I was leaving instructions for a new-hire sonographer at a hospital. I have chosen to use an artifact, Right Upper Quadrant Protocol, which I completed in my Introduction to Sonography class in Summer 2014. I explained which transducer you would choose for this type of scan, any questions you would ask the patient about their history before beginning the scan, and gave examples of all the images that are to be obtained during the study.

This skill is important in my personal, academic, and professional life because as a sonographer, I use technology on a daily basis. We must know how to manipulate the machines in order to get the images needed in order to help aid in the diagnosis of our patients. It is also important because many of the other systems we use as sonographers are computerized. This will help when retrieving images from PACS and looking up patient history in their medical chart. My strength in this core skill is the ability to quickly learn new technologies. My weakness in this area is switching from different machines so often. That can make the study longer than needed since you are looking for the location of buttons and knobs.

By completing this assignment, both of my SMART goals were met. This project taught me how to organize my thoughts and images in order to create a RUQ study that is easy for the radiologist to follow. It also taught me more about the ultrasound machines and which buttons provide a certain function.

Analysis & Interpretation: You will apply the basic principles of interpretation and analysis to synthesize information.

For the analysis and interpretation  core skill, I set two SMART goals. My first goal was to learn the correct anatomical location for all of the major abdominal organs and vessels. I also wanted to learn the function of each organ and how they work together as a whole. The classes that contributed most to this assignment and core skill are BIO 163 and SON 110. In Basic Anatomy and Physiology, I learned about each of the abdominal organs and what their major functions were. I was able to dissect a few organs as well which made me more familiar with their individual parts. In SON 110, I learned where each of the abdominal organs lie in correlation to the body. As a sonographer, it is important that I know were organs are located. This is true not only because I need to choose the best window for optimal scanning, but I also need to know where else in the body I need to look should I find something wrong with a particular area or organ.

For this assignment, I was instructed to create and place together all of the major abdominal organs and vessels in 3D form. I have selected to use an artifact, 3D Anatomy Project, which I completed in my Introduction to Sonography class in Summer 2014. The organs were to be labeled and placed in the proper location. In order to complete this project, I first did a lot of reading about each of the organs and their functions. I then started concentrating on their shapes. After that, I decided to stuff some different colored felt and sew together my organs. Finally, I glued them onto a canvas board and used red and blue piping to represent the arteries and veins.

This skill is important in my personal, academic, and professional life because it is essential that sonographers can interpret the human body and how it functions in order to properly work with the healthcare team in order to treat the patients as needed. We must be able to analyze the patient’s medical history and interpret which organs need examining. If a pathology is found, we will also need to brainstorm and see if any other areas of the body might be affected. My strength in this core skill is interpreting the exams and knowing what else I might need to evaluate in order to be sure we have made note of all pathologies seen within the body. My weakness is analyzing all of the patient’s medical history if it is extensive. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the amount of priors an individual has.

By completing this assignment, both of my SMART goals were met. This project helped me learn how the organs lie in relation to one another as well as “where else to look” should any pathology be found. Lastly, it taught me the most common lab values for each organ along with their primary functions.

Problem Solving: You will apply the basic principles of mathematics and/or scientific inquiry to identify, interpret, and evaluate and solve problems.

For the problem solivng core skill, I set two SMART goals. My first goal was to logically think through a study and come up with a diagnosis through evaluation of clinical symptoms and sonographic findings. The second goal was to be able to provide a differential diagnosis and support my findings through facts. The classes that contributed most to this assignment and core skill are Abdominal Sonography 1 & 2 as well as Case Studies. The abdominal classes provided me with a strong understanding of the organs and what normal organs are supposed to look like. It also helped me to identify normal variants within each organ. Case Studies really tied in all types of pathologies for me and helped me to think logically about differential diagnoses.

For this assignment, I was instructed to read through each of the liver case studies and provide my opinion about what I thought the proper diagnosis was, or if it was a normal. I have selected to use an artifact, Liver Case Studies with Diagnosis, that I completed in my Case Studies class in Fall 2015. First, I read through the patient history and clinical symptoms. Then, I evaluated the sonographic images and took note of any abnormal findings. Lastly,I took all of this information and used the knowledge that I have gained to provide the most likely diagnosis for the patient.

This skill is important in my personal, academic, and professional life because as a sonographer, it is important that I am able to take all of puzzle pieces and put them together in order to create a diagnostic study. This is also why it is so important to read through a patient’s chart to see their medical history as well as ask them pertinent questions prior to beginning the ultrasound exam. I am there to assist the radiologist and other medical doctors in solving the patient’s problem and providing them with a diagnosis. My strength in this core skill area is logically thinking through clinical symptoms and correlating them with ultrasound findings. My weakness in this area is providing what could be a differential diagnosis because I sometimes get stuck on what I believe is correct.

By completing this assignment, both of my SMART goals were met. I learned that it is very important for sonographers to think outside the box because not all pathologies are cut and dry. I also learned that obtaining patient history is sometimes the key to a proper diagnosis, so I should be sure to always as my patient any questions I deem important to their case.