Thursday, 10 April 2025
More Than Baby Scans: Educating the World on Sonography
Sonography is often misunderstood. In this interview, Elli Tamar offers an inside look at the profession, shares insights into their daily life, and talks about how they manage their career alongside content creation.
What inspired you to start sharing sonography-related content on social media?
I've been on social media since 2021 and share a fair amount of my life on there. My career as a sonographer is a big part of my life, and I'm really passionate about it. Sonography isn't a very well-known profession—most people don’t even know what my job title is—so naturally, there are always lots of questions. Some questions are just out of curiosity, but a lot are from people who are thinking of pursuing ultrasound as a career, as there's not a lot of real-world information available.
How do you balance being both a medical professional and a content creator?
Content creation is just something I fell into; it wasn’t my intention to become a content creator or "influencer" (which I don’t consider myself to be). It can definitely be time-consuming, but I never put it ahead of my job or my family. My family is the number one priority, followed by my job. That alone can be a tricky balance, which I know other working parents will understand, especially those that work on call like I do. Content creation is more of a hobby, so I just do it in my spare time.
What has been your most viral post, and why do you think it resonated so well with people?
My Day in the Life of a Sonographer videos are always popular because people really have no idea what sonographers do all day. People love to get an insider view of what we do because, unless you've been a patient, it's difficult to know. Content creation has allowed me to share ultrasound with so many people in a way we haven't been able to before.
"Sonography isn’t a very well-known profession - most people don’t even know what my job title is. That’s why I love sharing real-world information to help those curious about the field or considering it as a career."
What’s one misconception about ultrasound or sonography?
EVERYONE thinks that we scan babies all day long and nothing else! If I tell them I'm a sonographer, they don’t know what I’m talking about. But then I tell them I do the ultrasound of the babies/pregnant women, and it’s like an "aha!" moment for them. I make a point of saying in my videos that I scan very few babies, and I spend more time scanning everything else—from your toes to your nose.
Further, people often say that scanning the babies must be the best part of my job, and while it can be enjoyable, I wouldn't necessarily say that it’s the best part. For me personally, my job is interesting when I see interesting pathologies and cases, and when you see something interesting in a baby, it’s often not good news.
What’s one ultrasound-related fact that would surprise most people?
Most people are surprised when I tell them that we have to write up a preliminary diagnostic report. They think we just take pictures and send them off to the doctor, without understanding what we’re seeing. Many people don’t realise that ultimately, a big part of their final diagnosis is based on our reports and interpretations, rather than the radiologist’s.
Follow Elli on Social Media:
Instagram: @ellitamar
TikTok: @elli.tamar
Facebook: @ellitamar
Do you have a sonography story to share? Please contact us at communications@sonographers.org