Your Q1-2024 Association Update: From the Executive Directors Office

January 29, 2024

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Happy 2024!  One month into the New Year, and staff at Sonography Canada are  gearing up to help make a difference for our members in 2024!  

In December, we asked you to participate in a crucial survey to help identify the most critical issues that you encounter as sonographers.  Thank you to the  over 1,800 members who took the time to offer their insights and comments.  We are profoundly grateful for your input which will help us to address these issues with governments and other stakeholders.  

I wanted to take a moment to give you a few topline datapoints, and let you know what we are going to do with them. You can also review the full results here [Member Login Required].

Highlighted Statistics: 

The survey confirmed much of what we anticipated we would see:

• 45% of respondents have indicated that the quality of the Canadian healthcare system is either good or excellent.
• When asked to rate specific aspects of the system, 66% said that the quality of care from medical professionals is either good or excellent.  This was also reflected in a companion survey issued to members of the Canadian public.
•  Only 25% of respondents said that wait times for diagnostic imaging were good or excellent.
• With respect to working conditions, 41% responded that there has been no difference in their working conditions, but 35% indicated that it has gotten worse (to varying degrees).
• We then asked respondents to tell us how they feel in their day-to-day work. 71% said “busy”, 43% feel stressed, 40% indicated they feel like their work matters but feeling “respected” (29%) and “valued” (20%) are relatively low.
• 51% have said that they have considered leaving their job in the last couple of years, and when prompted to learn more, 28% of these respondents said that they would leave healthcare entirely.
• And what concerns you most?  Our research shows that 95% of sonographers are concerned about risk of injury, 88% say stress and burnout, and 80% cited staff shortages, and 78% mentioned the backlog of patients when asked about the problems facing sonographers.

So, what are we going to do with this information? 

We are working closely with our advocacy advisors and the Board of Directors to develop position statements and messages to use when speaking with all levels of government, other healthcare groups, and the general public.  This will help us better focus our advocacy on your behalf with meaningful information with each audience.  Advocacy can be a lengthy iterative process, and the work we are undertaking today will ensure time and money are used most effectively.  We’ll be giving frequent updates throughout the coming year.

But we are not quite done yet! 

During the first few months of 2024, we are conducting another study to better understand sonographers and the workplace.  It’s a census of  diagnostic medical sonographer profession in Canada and  members, non-members, employers will be asked to participate.  You can help by sharing our invitations to participate on social media or sending an email to your colleagues.

This study will help us gain a better understanding of how many are in the profession in Canada, and what the potential shortfalls may look like in the future.  This data will be used when we speak about sonographer education, employment, immigration of qualified medical professionals, and more. We really do hope you participate! Watch your inbox for an invitation to participate, or email mrockett@sonographycanada.ca for a link to the survey to participate and share with your colleagues!

In the meantime, have a fantastic first few months to 2024. 

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