In its first five years, the Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program has graduated more than 20 students. The past year included international research presentations by faculty and expanded lab facilities for students.

---

About the Program

Created in 2017 by program director Yonella Demars, Ph.D., the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program accepted its first student in 2019. Two years later, the program received a perfect accreditation evaluation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), based on the recommendation from the Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JRCDMS).

Each year, the program has increased enrollment, with about 40 applicants vying for about a dozen spots. Students register for at least one specialty: Abdomen, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Vascular. Using four ultrasound machines, more than four anatomical learning phantoms, sonography students receive near real-life learning and a top tier educational experience. In the past year, the Sonography lab transitioned into a bigger lab space, which can now house a six-student lab.

---

Faculty Engagement

Yonella Demars, Ph.D., program director, and Adrienne Pourteau, clinical coordinator, presented posters and/or lectured at the ISRRT Conference held in Hong Kong, 2024. Their work included:

• “Musculoskeletal Sonography Fundamentals for the General Sonographer: Evaluation of Tendons in the Setting of Trauma,” Pourteau.
• “A Case Study: Diagnosis of Grynfeltt-Lesshaft Hernia with Dynamic Ultrasound Imaging Techniques,” Pourteau.
• “Knowing Just Enough: Correlating Ultrasound Images with Other Imaging Modalities,” Demars.

---

New Faculty

• Adrienne Pourteau joined in 2024 as clinical coordinator, bringing more than 15 years of experience.
• Malena Wilson joined in 2023 as an adjunct faculty, after more than 10 years of experience.
• Carolyn Xu arrived in the fall semester as an adjunct faculty. She joined with more than two decades of echocardiography experience.

---

Student Engagement

As part of Abdominal Sonography II, students research and create case study posters, which are then submitted to the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS). Students from the Classes of 2022, 2023 and 2025 had posters accepted and displayed, respectively, at SDMS national conferences in Colorado, Georgia and Louisiana.

---

Alum Corner

Eletha Reid, ’21, Amanda Bradley, ’22, Destiny Barnes, ’23, and Kennedy Robinson, ’23, serve as clinical supervisors for DMS students at VCU Health.

---

Fun Stuff

All members of the Class of 2025 have passed the ARDMS Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) registry.
Last fall, the Classes of 2025 and 2026 met in Charlottesville to mingle, pick apples and decorate pumpkins. Later in the year, they reconnected for a “White Ram” Party to celebrate the end of the semester.