I am a single mom of three teriffic children.
When I was married and pregnant, the sonograms of my babies were the highlight of my pregnancy. I had a dream of working as a sonographer in a reproductive medicine, Helping infertile women have the joy I did in having their own baby to hold. My husband had a breakdown after 9-11. I was left to support my kids on my own. I formulated my plan. I would work hard to attend school and get a job as a sonographer in reproductive medicine. As soon as my children were in school I went back to school too.
Sanford Brown Institute aggresively pushed their school as a shining star with their agendas and misleading information, even outright lies. They had a mom friendly schedule. Class was 9am to 3 pm, no Fridays or Sundays. They claimed they were the industry leaders, with inside connections to jobs... And theywould place us with sterling externships that we could get hired as soon as we finished.
THEY LIED!!! MYSELF and my fellow classmates are out $35,000.00!
When I go on an interview with my current skill level (new graduate. No ARDMS) and say I went to Sanford Brown they all tell me the school was sued, (under its former name... UDS) and they had thought it no longer exists.
Sanford brown "Reps" (used car salesmen...)
told us how Sanford Brown graduates are in higher demand than Downstate because we have individual attention, and we can scan so much better.
They told us that all the teaching was done by doctors in the feild.
They told us there was a job placement department and they worked tirelessly to place us in a sonogram job.
They did not tell us at any time that they were NOT an accredited school, and that we could not sit for the ARDMS exam unless we went back to ANNOTHER college for a bachelors degree or got hired with out accreditation (nearly impossible!) then worked for a year.
They did not tell us that: The feild that went there for (OB-GYN), was taught with a dummy simulator, which was out of order. Basically we did not learn ob-gyn, only observed it in externship.
Our lab teacher was a R.N.in Russia, and was NOT a doctor, and I doubt she ever was in the feild. She favored Russian students, and did not teach or explain pocedures well. She gave a 10 min lecture in English and a breif demo. The rest of the time, she spoke exclusively in Russian and gave the Russian students one on one attention. If you were not Russian, you didn't get to learn. She refused to demonstrate and explain procedure, Instead we discussed haircut styles and current events, and how much weight she wants to loose.
The only was to learn how to scan was to stay after hours for tutoring and hopethat we got the other instructor that actually taught!
Sanford brown encouraged open cheating. They gave the review in physics before the course was taught (so we did not know the material!) My professor (also program director) gave hints and allowed open cheating. They gave no homework asignments. Just "cliff" notes style notes with a summary so we can pass the tests easily. No anatomy class. Just fuzzy outdated photocopies with handouts to memorize.
Passed us in lab even if we couldn't scan. No externship supervision whatsoever. The supervising coordinator of our clinical externship was supposed to test and check on our progress. After all, we must know how to scan. That is what the job is all about! All she cared about was if we put in our hours and handed in our time sheets. She came, had lunch with the sonographer we were expected to observe. ONCE!!! During our 900 hrs of externship!
TheyLIED about job placement. My fellow students and I have not revieved even ONE call, or one legit interview through their 1 phony staff member who comprises their whole placement department. I called him and followed up and he led me to expired sites and phony positions (requiring min of 3 years experience... Ardms... Last years site... A job in alaska that requires RN licensure... You get the picture!). Lied about credits being accepted. Their credits mean nothing to most institutions.
Basically they are pimping innocents for money.
They are a disgrace to educational institutions.
I now am on welfare and work weekends as a HHA, and have to send my kids to their grandma, so I can pay back my student loans.
I can not even volunteer as a sonographer for FREE to gain experience, because no one trusts our education, and we are not covered by insurance!
Employers see sanford brown graduates as a liability!
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