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Committee on Accreditation for Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography (COA-ACS)

Mary Alice Dilday
Staff
2530 Meridian Parkway, Ste. 450
Durham, NC 27713
Phone: (919) 465-9020
Email:

The Committee on Accreditation for Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography serves, under the auspices of the CAAHEP, to promote and advance the quality of educational programs for advanced cardiovascular sonographers.
 

Board Members

Joy Guthrie, PhD, ACS, RDMS, RDCS, RVT, FSDMS, FASE, Chair
Smadar Kort, MD, FASE, Vice Chair
Teresa Daniele, MD
Ken Horton, ACS, RCS, FASE, SDMS Representative
Bijoy Khandheria, MD, FASE
Elizabeth McIlwain, MHS, ACS, RCS, FASE
Marsha Neumyer, BS, RVT, FSDMS, FSVU, FAIUM
Cynthia Taub, MD, FASE, Treasurer
Kelly Thorson, DHSc, MSRS, ACS, RDCS, RCCS, CIIP, FASE, Secretary
Matt M. Umland, RDCS, FASE, Past Chair
Michelle Bierig, MPH, RDCS, ACS, FASE, Historian
Thomas Skalko, PhD, CRTS, FDRT, CAAHEP Liaison

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Recorded Webinar - "How to Start an Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography Program" 
This webinar presented in November 2020 was designed to provide information on the concept and role of an Advanced Cardiovascular Sonographer (ACS), why and how to start a program at your institution, and to answer questions about advanced cardiovascular education and training. Program Directors from two CAAHEP accredited ACS programs participated in the discussion to talk about their experiences with this professional career ladder pathway for sonographers. Review the recorded webinar here.

If you have additional questions about starting an ACS program, please feel free to contact the CoA-ACS. 
 

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Attention Program Directors!

 Are you interested in establishing a CAAHEP accredited Advanced Cardiac Sonography (ACS) program, but don’t know what is involved or how to get started? The Committee on Accreditation for Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography (CoA-ACS), has created an ACS Toolkit to get you started.

In this toolkit you will find step by step instructions on what is required, how to go about creating an accredited ACS program, links to resources, a template job description, and a template of course descriptions.   Please contact coaacs@gmail.com for a toolkit PDF.

The CoA-ACS is always ready to assist you.  Please feel free to email or phone with any questions.
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ACS Sample Job Description Templates

Sample #1
Sample #2

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Sponsors for Committee on Accreditation for Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography (COA-ACS)

American Society of Echocardiography
Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ADVANCED CARDIOVASCULAR PROFESSION

Learn more about the Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography Profession.
 
  • Feature article in Echo Magazine, Nov. 2021, "Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography:  A Review of the Development of the Profession".  Click here
  • For more detailed information on the development of the Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography profession, please click here to review the white paper published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.

 

Accreditation Documents

For Program Directors

Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography (Revised 2020)

Request for Accreditation Services for Educational Programs for Advanced Cardiovascular Sonographers

For Programs Seeking Initial Accreditation

Considering program accreditation? Visit CAAHEP's "Accreditation ABCs",  a free service from CAAHEP to all program directors, but especially to newly appointed program directors, to guide their understanding of the accreditation process and to advise them on good practices.

Getting Started: