Which Cardiovascular Technology track is right for me?

But if you’ve decided you want to go into this fast-paced health care field, which track should you take?

There are two basic areas of expertise: Invasive Cardiology and Non-Invasive Cardiology. Invasive Cardiology and Non-Invasive Cardiology are two very different fields and require two very different types of people.

Invasive Cardiology utilizes highly sophisticated equipment to perform procedures on patients for diagnostic and interventional treatment of cardiovascular diseases as part of the cardiac cauterization team.

What does that mean?

An Invasive Technologist is someone who is a member of a team of other health care professionals working in a surgical suite. This professional must like working in a group and be comfortable in a more dramatic setting.

On the flip side, Non-Invasive Cardiology utilizes ultrasound to perform diagnostics examinations on patients. The Non-Invasive Technologist will utilize state-of-the-art equipment to recognize, calculate, interpret and analyze hemodynamic data derived from the cardiac study.

Translation?

A Non-Invasive Technologist works with the equipment to scan the heart and blood vessels. This person needs to be very detail-oriented and enjoys a certain amount of autonomy. They must be self-motivated and willing to work one-on-one with patients in a highly technological setting.

Both an Invasive Technologist and a Non-Invasive Technologist need to have the same basic background on the heart and recognizing where there is a problem. The difference is how each technologist performs a diagnostic of the cardiovascular system.