Cardiovascular technician programs prepare students for exciting careers as health care professionals. These programs tend to be of shorter duration than many health care training programs--they get you out working and making a difference sooner.
This professional needs trained professionals now—the baby boomers are entering their senior years and demand for cardiovascular testing and therapy is increasing rapidly.
Cardio vascular technicians are a vital part of the medical team that diagnoses and treats cardiac and vascular health problems. Working with cardiovascular technologists and physicians, technicians perform electrocardiograms (EKGs), assist patients with Holter monitors, and perform stress tests. Cardiovascular technician programs train students in all these areas, something that on-the-job training usually doesn’t do.
Cardiovascular technician programs and on-site training both prepare technicians for routine EKGs—a very common test before surgery or as part of a physical examination—that read a patients heart rhythm and record it for analysis. Students who have attended a cardiovascular technician training program, however, are able to perform more advanced tests: Holter monitors are worn by patients for a period of twenty-four hours to map how the heartbeat changes as they go through the day; stress tests record the heart’s response to the demands of exercise.
All of these noninvasive tests give physicians vital information about a patient’s heart function, making a properly trained graduate of a cardiovascular training program a vital part of health care today. Job opportunities for technicians trained in Holter monitors and stress tests may increase by as much as 33 percent by 2014, with several thousand job openings annually across the United States. Professionals trained on the job to do only EKGs will not enjoy the same opportunities as graduates of cardiovascular technician programs.
Most cardiovascular technicians work in hospitals; about a quarter are employed in other workplaces such as doctors offices, clinics, and laboratories. Graduates of cardiovascular training programs earn, on average, about $38,000 dollars a year in all work settings, with starting salaries at about $22,000 and those with experience and seniority earning close to $60,000 in some locations. The highest earners tend to live in the northeastern states, and in Alaska and Hawaii.
An internet search will help you locate cardiovascular technician training opportunities – many schools and colleges have their own websites and will gladly send you information about the programs they offer. Many also offer training in similar professions: you can compare programs as well as professions to be sure you have chosen the right one for you.
Top Cardiovascular Training Programs
After careful research, we can confidently recommend the following schools for specialized training:
Everest Institute
more than cardiovascular technician programs on our medical training page
return to our Accredited Online University home page