Sonography director donates lab to inspire students

By Chelyen Davis

When Yonella Demars, Ph.D., was earning her doctorate in radiation sciences in Virginia Commonwealth University's College of Health Professions, the college conducted a fundraising campaign by offering bricks with donors' names on them to support funding for a new building. Demars promised herself that when she finished her Ph.D., she'd donate a brick.

But by the time the doctorate was done, the brick campaign was over. Instead, as Demars became an assistant professor and director of VCU's Diagnostic Medical Sonography program and began building its curriculum, she started to see a way to make a significant impact on her school - and on the students she deeply cares about - through a current gift that names the lab in which they learn their craft.

As of this spring, students in the sonography program now do their hands-on practice in the Demars Sonography Lab, named by Demars and her husband, Marlon, "in recognition of unwavering commitment to excellence, visionary spirit, and past and future VCU sonography students," according to the plaque by the door.

"It was pricier than a brick, but I really care about the students that come through our program," Demars said. "I have put a lot of hard work, tears and thought behind making the program a good program for students. … the past ones, the present and the future ones. And I think it's important for them to see it, so they too can possibly have some inspiration to do something very similar or just give back. … If I want to give my money to someone, it would definitely be VCU."

More than 'scanning babies'

Demars became interested in sonography when she was pregnant with her first child, living in Georgia and working as a patient care technician in an ophthalmologist office. The sonographer doing her ultrasound told her about a career in sonography, and Demars thought it would be fun to do in utero ultrasounds on fetuses.

"I quickly learned that I did not want to be an obstetric sonographer," she said, "but going into that particular program, I realized sonography is just not about scanning babies. We do a lot more."

Sonography is used for imaging organs in the abdominal cavity, arteries and veins, musculoskeletal anatomy, transplants, the male and female reproductive systems, neonatal brains, and more.

But at the root of it all, Demars said, is patient care. "I tell all my students: Patient care is a foundation of any caregiving career you say you're going to do."

Demars earned a B.S. in radiologic sciences with a concentration in diagnostic medical sonography at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, and an M.S. in radiologic sciences with a concentration in health administration at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, before coming to VCU for her Ph.D. Along the way, she also worked as a patient care technician in an emergency room, which taught her that she loved directly caring for patients. In addition, it exposed her to a variety of medical emergencies.

By the time Demars was admitted to AASU's sonography program, Demars remembers thinking that she was ready to handle it: "Give me the content, teach me how to work this machine. I got the patient care part. And I think that patient care part will never leave me."

'Drawing with sound'

Demars describes sonography as a science and an art form. A good sonographer understands the machine as well as the human body.

"I teach students, 'You have to think about the bigger picture. If it's backed up here, it must be a blockage there,'" she said. "So, yes, it is an art. Not only are you thinking about how to support a diagnosis that your physician can provide, you also have to know ultrasound physics and … how to operate your ultrasound machine."

That's the art: knowing how to move the machine's transducer to produce good images that the doctor will be able to use to diagnose the patient.

"It's like drawing with sound … I tell my students, 'These are your moneymakers,'" she said, raising her hands, "'and these are also your reputation, so the images that you create with the stroke of your hand on a transducer creates a good diagnostic picture, or it could not be a good diagnostic picture, which then is associated with your reputation.'"

In the Demars Sonography Lab, students practice the art and science of sonography on three machines set up just like they are in a medical setting - often scanning each other for practice (which has occasionally caught real medical issues). In addition, they do clinical rotations for real-world experiences.

Demars hopes that when students walk into the lab past the plaque that says her and her husband's donation was made in recognition of sonography students that they'll be inspired.

"I love my students dearly. I want them to have a good experience when they're in our program, succeed, get good jobs, and be successful and integral parts of our profession," Demars said. "I tell my students all the time, 'My ceiling is your floor. I want you to be better than me. I'm going to give you all I've got. Take it and do great things. Do great things because I'm always looking.'"