Very first group of sonography students graduate from Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Sciences

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – The very first group of sonography students have graduated from the Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Sciences!

According to a release from Mercy six students graduated on Saturday, December 7, 2024 from the college’s new full-time diagnostic medical sonography (DMS) academic path.

Five of those graduates will move on to care for patients at Mercy Hospital Southeast in Cape Girardeau, becoming a critical piece of the patient care team. The sixth graduate will join Saint Francis Medical Center, also in Cape Girardeau.

DMS health care professionals are trained to operate ultrasound equipment, which uses high frequency sound waves to produce images of a patient’s internal body structure.

Students in sonography typically complete the program 18 months after their general education requirements, totaling two years, start to finish, at the college.

“It’s a lot of hard work from everyone here at the college, developing this program, seeing the students’ success as they navigate and complete the program and then have them graduate,” said Dr. David Heflin, program director of the college’s diagnostic medical sonography program. “Students complete an enormous amount of clinical time so they can practice here [at the college] but also with real people. It takes an entire team, so the support from the college and Mercy Southeast has been incredible to witness. The clinical instructors, the hospital, the community, they all help our graduates.”

2024 DMS Graduates are Allyssa-Marie Garcia, Amber Hadenfeldt, Audrey LeGrand, Natalie McMullin, Kylee Rhyne, and Aubrey Rodrigue.

Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Sciences