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The Cardiovascular Technologist is a health care professional who, at the direction of a licensed physician, performs diagnostic tests which are used in the diagnosis, treatment and serial follow-up of patients with cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular Technology is a title used to describe two basic areas of expertise: Invasive Cardiology and Non-Invasive Cardiology.

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. The Invasive Technologist assists a qualified cardiologist in all aspects of the cardiac cauterization.

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.

Advisement Information

• Students must attend a Health Science Information session before first-time registration. Twenty-four students are accepted into the clinical portion of the program in the spring semester.
• The following courses are required with a 2.5 GPA or higher for enrollment into the clinical portion of this program: AHS 102, BIO 210, ENG 101, MAT 102 and PSY 201. (Note: MAT 120 may not be used as a substitution for MAT 102 but a higher level math such as MAT 110 may). A program-ready form should be submitted to the Student Success Center once these courses have been completed.
• After the first three semesters, students may choose either the Non-Invasive or the Invasive Concentration.
• This is the only Cardiovascular Technology associate degree program offered in SC.
• Students must be physically and mentally able to perform specific tasks.  View the Physical and Mental Standards on the Health Science Resource webpage.
• BIO 106 Exemption by Exam - Student must meet the following criteria to be eligible to sit for the BIO 106 exemption test: eligilibility to enter ENG 101 (ENG 100 and RDG 100 or appropriate test scores) and have previous college biology experience.  Students can arrange to take the exam with either Dale Smoak or Marc Renwick.  The test is entirely within D2L, but is given only under their direct supervision.  The test includes a lab, and it is entirely on the computer.  The content of the exam includes:  chemical concepts of living things, organization of cells and tissues, fundamentals of cellular reproduction and genetics, and orientation to human body systems.