DMBN: Today it seems like there's a kind of "turf war" going on between the imaging modalities. And for many areas of interest, you can use CT, or PET/CT, or MRI, or ultrasound. What are the strengths and weaknesses of ultrasound in this regard?

Goldberg: The limitations of ultrasound are going through dense bone, and if there is air around, like within the lungs and so on. There certainly is overlap in many areas. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that we get many referrals to look at something found on CT or MR, just as we often refer to MR and CT, because each has different physics behind it; one is ionizing radiation, that's CT, the other is, of course, magnetism in MR, and ultrasound is high frequency sound waves, so each has advantages and disadvantages. In the very young patient, in the pregnant patient, in the very thin patient, ultrasound has distinct advantages. I think what people don't realize is that in most parts of the world, unfortunately, many healthcare facilities can't afford to buy and keep up a CT, MR or a PET scanner, and ultrasound accounts for a very high percentage of imaging procedures. Ultrasound and basic X-ray are the dominant imaging modalities in most of the world today.


DMBN: Please tell us about the courses and seminars JUREI has to help doctors keep up their CME credit.

Goldberg: In each state there are regulations regarding Continuing Medical Education requirements to maintain your license to practice. If you are licensed, say, in Pennsylvania - where I come from - every three years you need 150 hours of educational credits to keep your license - an average of about 50 hours a year. At JUREI, we have a whole slate of programs that you can take to fulfill your CME credit needs. Sonographers also need credits to maintain their certification to practice in any individual state as well, and we're a prime source for those programs. We think we have a more comprehensive ultrasound CME program than anyone else.

DMBN: As far as sonographers go, is there any issue as far as an oversupply or undersupply? Is it a good job market or a tight job market?

Goldberg: I can tell you first-hand, because I am also the medical director of our ultrasound sonography school here at Jefferson University, that there is a shortage of songraphers within this country. One reason for that is, with the aging population, more imaging procedures are being ordered, so we're seeing usage of ultrasound going up. Also, because ultrasound has advantages not only for radiologists, cardiologists, obstetricians and gynecologists, but also in anesthesia, in the emergency department, and in the operating room, many more physicians are ordering ultrasound, are performing ultrasound, and are using songraphers to assist in obtaining the image. This has led to a shortage, so salaries generally have been going up in this area, and schools are full and are expanding to try to meet the shortages of sonographers.

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