• Daytime, fulltime—Monday through Friday
• Program offered every January
• 18 months in length
• Graduate with your Associate of Occupational Science Degree and be eligible to sit for your registry examinations
• We offer placement assistance for graduates
• Four specialties offered:  Invasive Cardiovascular Technology, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Non-Invasive Vascular Study, and Adult Echocardiography

Sentara College offers four specialties:  Invasive Cardiovascular Technology, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Non-Invasive Vascular Study and Adult Echocardiography.  (Click each title for the specific page on the specialty and admission requirements.)

Invasive Cardiovascular Technology

• Member of the cardiac catheterization (cath lab) team
• Assists the cardiologist in performing procedures that diagnose and treat diseases of the heart and coronary arteries
• Procedures commonly used in the cath lab include:  coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention (i.e. stent, balloon, plaque removal devices, etc), and right heart catheterizations
• Responsible for preparing patients for each procedure
• Provide direct patient care and in some areas administer medications under the supervision of the physician


Cardiac Electrophysiology

• Member of the Electrophysiology Lab (EP Lab) team
• Perform studies that diagnose heart rhythm disorders as well as procedures that treat these disorders (i.e. insertion of pacemakers or a defibrillator)
• Serves as the first assistant to the physician and are responsible for reviewing and compiling data collected during EP procedures and device implants
• Perform direct patient care both prior to and immediately following EP procedures

Non-Invasive Vascular Study

• Vascular Technologists evaluate blood flow within the arteries and veins of the body to determine the presence or absence of vascular disease.  Vascular Techs work with the following areas of the body:  arteries and veins of the arms and legs, the arteries of the neck and head, the arteries and veins of the kidneys, liver and mesenteric circulation.
• Procedures are done without injections or dyes, thus making them non-invasive
• Two modalities are used:  Physiologic and Duplex Ultrasound
  • Physiologic studies involve obtaining blood pressures of the arms and near the ankle and the use of a Doppler probes to obtain waveforms of the arterial blood flow to determine if their are blockages.
  • Duplex Ultrasound produces a sonographic image of the vessel as well as provides information regarding changes in blood flow velocity which may be abnormal and characteristic of specific vascular disease processes (i.e. blood clots, stenosis or an aneurysm)
• Vascular Technologists work one-on-one with the patient and write preliminary reports of the findings, which are in return read by the physician who will interpret the study and write conclusions.  Treatment decisions are then made as a result of these studies.


Adult Echocardiography

• Echocardiograms are one of the most widely used non-invasive diagnostic tests for heart disease.
• Echo Technologists perform these procedures one-on-one in a hospital or outpatient setting.  Tests may be performed in conjunction with a physician.
• Ultrasound is utilized to perform these tests.  It is used to gather data about the structure and function of the cardiac chambers, valves, and vessels leading to and from the heart.
• Multiple types of tests exist:  transthoracic echocardiogram, transesophogeal echocardiogram, and stress echocardiogram (a.k.a. Stress Test).