A Guide to Becoming an EKG Technician in New York!

What’s the most powerful muscle in your body? It’s your heart! And it’s important to keep it strong!

An EKG Technician is an expert who can listen to your heart and uses technology to look at its functioning. Do you wish to choose this exciting career path in New York? If so, you can learn the necessary skills through EKG technician training in New York.

Continue reading this post to learn more about EKG technicians, their duties, salary, and steps to enter this career field.

What is an EKG Technician?

An EKG Technician is the one who uses an electrocardiogram to determine what’s happening inside your heart. He can use specific procedures to verify a patient's health. This procedure can even help diagnose the risk of heart attacks and other heart diseases.

He is expected to work with a team of healthcare professionals to deliver care and treatment to patients needing it.

Duties of an EKG technician

As an EKG technician, you will have to do some paperwork and fill in the data. In addition, you may be required to perform other duties, such as;

• Perform EKG tests
• Schedule appointments
• Prepare patients
• Sanitize equipment
• Transcribe the notes of healthcare providers

EKG technician salary

According to BLS reports of 2021, EKG technicians are earning $58,260 per year. That means the average salary of these professionals is $28.01 per hour. Those with certification can expect to earn more.

If you choose to work in larger hospitals in highly populated areas, you can get better career opportunities with a higher salary package.

Learning skills through an EKG training course in New York and gaining experience and credentials can also significantly influence how much you can earn yearly.

Steps to become an EKG Technician

Fulfill educational requirements

Working with EKG equipment at any healthcare facility requires you to possess the skills. As it’s a skilled career, you will need to complete the required education to enter this profession. First of all, you need to complete high school or GED. After that, you may consider pursuing an associate's degree course. Though it’s not a necessity, many people opt for it to advance their careers.

Gain the necessary knowledge through any training program

An easy and short way to enter this field is to fulfill the basic educational requirement, enroll in one of the best EKG technician training in New York and learn the required skills. The training program can last for a year. A well-designed training course can cover the following topics-

• Introduction to ECG/EKG
• EKG as a diagnostic tool
• Detailed overview of heart functions
• Role and responsibilities of the EKG Technician
• Procedure of electrocardiography
• Conducting the EKG on patients
• Cleaning EKG machine and other equipment
• Detailed instructions on how to use the EKG unit
• Loading paper in EKG Machine
• How to prepare patients for EKG procedures
• Recognizing any abnormality if present
• Recording the cardiac cycle
• Learning normal values of EKG records
• Perform related test procedures. i.e., Telemetric EKG, Holter Monitor, Stress Tests, etc.

Earn certification

Some institutes that offer training to students interested in becoming an EKG technician also prepare them for certification exams. If you wish to earn certification and enjoy better career opportunities, you can consider getting EKG technician training in New York from one such training center.

Though all states and employers don’t expect their candidates to be certified, becoming a certified technician can help you get a higher salary. This is because your certification will showcase your skills to employers. And they will know that you have the required competence in your field to perform your duties well.

Complete on-the-job training

Some training centers offer job placement assistance to their students after completing the course program. They can help students get hands-on experience and learn the necessary skills. Or you can simply apply for a job at any healthcare center and get on-the-job training. Then, gain some experience working as an EKG technician and switch to a new job after some years.

Become well-employed

After completing an EKG training course program and gaining experience, you can look for a better job. Whether or not you are a certified technician, you need to gain job experience before becoming a well-employed EKG professional.

Places to work

If you have decided to become an EKG technician, you may want to know where you can work. Well, an EKG technician can find a job in the following places-

• Cardiac centers
• Urgent care centers
• Hospitals
• Emergency rooms
• Private clinics
• Other healthcare settings

You can further advance your career after gaining a few years of experience in the same field. There are some options available for you to gain promotions and raises.

Some of the opportunities you can choose to advance your career are-

• Medical Laboratory Technologist
• Medical Assistants
• Phlebotomy Technicians
• Medical Billing And Coding

Whatever career path you want to choose after a few years, completing the basic education and EKG training course program is the primary requirement to enter this profession. So, start your search for the best education centers offering this course near your place today!