School of Echocardiography
The Heart of Advanced Clinical Excellence
Northside School of Echocardiography
Grow your expertise. Elevate your career.
If you’re looking for the opportunity to advance your clinical skills and play a vital role in adult cardiac care, the Northside School of Echocardiography can equip you to take on the critical challenges of this exciting field. At the Northside School of Echocardiography, physicians, academic leaders, and clinical instructors leverage best clinical practices to drive an educational experience that is second to none. With a 95% graduation rate as well as exceptional registry exam pass rates, and placement rates, the results speak for themselves.
How the Program works.
The Northside School of Echocardiography is an accredited one-year, full-time, highly specialized certificate program that trains students to become knowledgeable healthcare professionals who perform diagnostic procedures performed in an adult Cardiac echo lab setting.
- The program combines dedicated classroom education and hands-on clinical instruction, with a concentration in adult cardiac care
- Clinical training is conducted at Northside Hospital Forsyth, Northside Hospital Gwinnett, and at our Cardiology Practices
- Multiple rotations provide students with a broad range of inpatient and outpatient clinical experiences
- The program is designed for applicants without ultrasound experience or credentials
- Class size is limited to ten students annually
School of Echocardiography Student Outcomes
*** School has been under sponsorship of Northeast Georgia Heart Center and Piedmont University prior to Northside Hospital
Graduating Year | # of Students Starting Program | % of Students Graduated | National Credentialing Exam Pass Rate | Employed in Field |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 8 | 100% | 100% | 100%** |
2021-2023 | 16 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
2014-2020 | 41 | 100% | 96% | 85%* |
* 3 students do not work in field
** First class under Northside Hospital
Northside Hospital School of Echocardiography Student Handbook
The Cardiovascular Technology – Adult Echocardiography Certificate program at Northside Hospital is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of The Joint Review Committee on Education in Cardiovascular Technology (JRC-CVT).
About the application process.
- Classes begin in the Fall of each year
- Provide your resume/CV, a copy of your educational transcripts, and two letters of recommendation
- $21,000 program tuition includes clinical rotations, national registry fees and a 1 year membership to the American Society of Echocardiography
The Fall 2024 application window is now closed.
Check back in January 2025 when we will start accepting applications for our Fall 2025 program.
Program requirements.
Program participants should have one of the following:
- Two-year AMA Allied Health degree
- Bachelor’s degree in health science
- Bachelor’s degree in non-health science field with the following pre-requisites:
- Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II (8 College Credits)
- Medical Terminology
- Graduate of a degree-granting, accredited paramedic program
- Other domestic or foreign clinical or medical degree programs will be considered
The Northside advantage.
Upon completion of the Echo Program and successful certification, you will be equipped to take on an exciting role with Northside, that offers:
Industry leading wages and comprehensive benefits
Excellent retirement and pension plans
Empowering, inclusive culture
Leading-edge facilities and equipment
Meet the faculty.
Paul Braum BS, RDCS, RCS, RVT, RVS, ACS, FASE
Program Director and Instructor
Paul received an AS degree in Cardiovascular Technology in both invasive and non-invasive testing from Santa Fe College in Gainesville Florida. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Administration with a minor in premedical sciences from The University of Pittsburgh. He has been a cardiac sonographer for more than 40 years, and worked in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the University of Florida (Shands Teaching Hospital) during the clinical trials of thrombolytics and angioplasty. He was the chief echocardiographer at the University of Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital during the initiation of both heart and liver transplants, and was involved in the care team of the first double organ transplant performed in history.
Paul has owned and operated his own diagnostic imaging company and has been involved in the education of Cardiovascular Technologists for over 40 years. Paul has built many Non-Invasive Echo and Vascular labs and is recognized for his passion in innovative techniques. Paul founded Northside Hospital’s current program in cardiovascular technology in 2014 and has been involved in its curriculum and operation since. The program is nationally recognized with a 95% employment success rate and 95% pass rate on the national credentialing exams. He is currently the System Coordinator for both Echocardiography and Vascular Ultrasound at Northside Hospital.
Paul is nationally recognized as a Fellow of American Society of Echocardiography (FASE). He was among the first in the U.S. to achieve certification as an Advanced Cardiac Sonographer (ACS). He is also a longtime member of the Society of Vascular Ultrasound (SVU), Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (SDMS) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). He has served on several committees in the ASE including serving as a co-chairman.
- Research Committee – Co-chair
- Industry Relations Committee
- Membership Committee
- Item Writer ASE – Updated Standards and Guidelines for Peripheral Vascular Access
Paul is a nationally recognized and highly sought-after speaker and educator, and serves on several Speaker Bureaus for the industry as well as their advisory committee.
Paul has numerous publications in the field of both Echocardiography and Peripheral Vascular Ultrasound having been published in the Journals of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JDMS), Society of Vascular Ultrasound (JSVU) American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Journal of Cardiology Research and Cardiovascular Medicine. Paul is co-Author of Chapter 32 on Ultrasound Enhancing Agents in the textbook Basic to Advanced Clinical Echocardiography.
Lalitha C. Medepalli, MD, FACC, FASE, RPVI
Medical Director and Instructor
Dr. Lalitha C. Medepalli brings 20 years of experience to her practice, with expertise in noninvasive cardiology, women’s heart health, and cardio-oncology. An active member of the local community, she promotes women’s heart health awareness and the early detection and treatment of heart disease through a combination of speaking engagements and editorial content. A Georgia Trend 2020 Top Doctor, Dr. Medepalli specializes in transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiogram, nuclear cardiology-based procedures, cardiovascular imaging, and cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA), stress echocardiograms, and Holter and event monitoring.
- Medical School, Osmania Medical College, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Residency, Internal Medicine, NYU Downtown Hospital, New York, New York
- Fellowship, Cardiovascular Disease, Elmhurst Hospital Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
For more information about the School of Echocardiography,
please contact Paul at paul.braum@northside.com
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