What other medical professionals do sonographers work with?
In addition to working with other sonographers, these professionals work frequently with radiologists. A radiologist (commonly referred to as a RAD) is a doctor who interprets images (ultrasounds, MRI, CT Scan, X-Rays). Radiologists are required to have an additional 4-10 years of medical schools/residency depending on their specialty. Typically a RAD is not seen by the patient. There are some exceptions to this such as when the RAD does the more invasive procedures, such as biopsies or HSGs, where water is injected to the uterus through the cervix, while the sonographer is imaging. Sometimes RADs need to speak with a patient directly in more emergent situations, such as if a pregnant woman has an early ultrasound where a healthy embryo is not seen. A radiologist is always part of the equation with reviewing and interpreting ultrasounds except in the case of many obstetrician offices. Many obstetricians now order and interpret their own images. In all other cases outside of OB, a radio
