Overall, online ultrasound technician degrees are not attracted or encouraged by employers. Being an ultrasound technician demands precision, commitment, attention to detail and an excellent capacity for patient care. While much of this can be taught in your clinical rotations, it will all be supplemented in your academic coursework if you are in a campus-based program. While employers know what to expect if someone has a top traditional ultrasound tech degree, online coursework done exclusively, rather than as an occasional supplement, will not convince them that you are the best candidate for an ultrasound technician job.

Many traditional schools have strict requirements for applicants to the program, including a certain level of fitness and the ability to lift at least 50 pounds, which will be demanded by employers as well. Online ultrasound tech degree programs will not necessarily mandate such requirements, and if they are not asked to be met in your clinical rotations, an employer might think you do not meet the fitness standards required to perform basic work tasks.

However, there are a few ways to convince an employer to consider you for an ultrasound technician career even if you have earned an online ultrasound technician degree. If your clinical work is outstanding, with supervisors noting your excellence in every aspect of Sonography, this can go a long way to helping you get hired. You can further improve your chances if you have undertaken extra internships. With such supplementation for ultrasound technician degrees, online coursework will look much less weak. Furthermore, your degree must be earned from a properly accredited school. If it has not achieved accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), you will have a very hard time securing a top job.

For higher ultrasound technician degrees, online work might be more acceptable because it is understood that you might be trying to further your career while also holding down a full-time job, making distance learning one of the few viable options. In addition, because there are so few accredited programs that offer a bachelor’s degree at all, you may have no choice but to earn an online ultrasound technician degree at a higher level if you do not want to move to another state to go to school.

You should be aware, however, that CAAHEP only accredits 2 schools offering online courses for a bachelor’s degree in ultrasound technology and does not accredit any programs offering an online master’s degree in the field.

But there are also continuing advances that make online education more effective and acceptable. In this article from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the discussion revolves around innovations in hand-carried Sonography equipment that improves distance learning. As the field continues to develop, online ultrasound technician degrees will become more acceptable to employers. However, you will still be expected to have excellent hands-on experience, and you must be ready to prove yourself worth hiring from the outset, regardless of the degree you present when you apply for a job.