Career Talk Blog | Your Career as an EKG Technician
How do you know if a career as an EKG technician for you?
There are many options for getting certified in a medical profession, and becoming an EKG technician is a great choice for military spouses. The Major Group, along with our education partner Tyler Junior College, offers an EKG technician certification program at no cost to MyCAA-eligible spouses. An EKG technician seems interesting, but what do they actually do, what is an EKG, and is this the right career path for you?
EKG stands for electrocardiogram, and it is a noninvasive procedure that checks for problems with the electrical activity of your heart.
Students considering this program should have an interest in the medical field. This course extensively covers coronary information and if you aren’t interested in learning about the heart, you should consider one of our many other medical certification programs.
As an EKG tech, you will prepare patients for the exam, administer the procedure and interpret the results.
An EKG takes about five minutes to complete and is painless for patients. The tech will prepare the patient for the exam by placing leads in predetermined locations on the patients body. The EKG shows the heart’s activity as a line on paper, and the patterns the line creates is what EKG techs and doctors use to determine the heart’s condition.
Students interested in a profession in EKG need to be great communicators.
Working with patients on a daily basis means you must be a good listener, patient, friendly and calm. You may be working with stressed out patients and their family members. You must have a willingness to learn new things and work in constantly changing health care environments.
Our course is completed in modules including assessments and exams throughout the program.
It is 100% online, at your own pace, and takes about four months to complete. Once the online portion of the exam is completed, students will take the ASTP-EKG national certification exam. EKG technicians should have a high school diploma or GED, but additional education or career training may be required.
Obtaining a national certification from an accredited institution proves to employers you have the training, knowledge, and skills needed to work as a tech.
EKG technicians can work in a variety of medical environments.
- You may be hired to work in a doctor’s office, hospital, or other type of medical center.
- Depending on where you work, you may be full or part-time, and have regular or rotating shifts.
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