MTCVI STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Liz Chiozza Buford

"I am Liz Chiozza Buford and I am a structural heart cardiac sonographer at Methodist Germantown Hospital in Memphis, TN. I graduated from University of Memphis with a bachelor’s in Health Studies in May 2018 and started the MTCVI sonography program in July of 2018. After graduating from MTCVI in 2019 I started my career at Saint Thomas West Hospital in Nashville. I learned so much my first 3 years and I am forever grateful to my teachers, preceptors, and co-workers. I moved back to Memphis and have been working at Methodist for two years now. My passion is structural heart and teaching students. Cardiac sonography is such a rewarding career, and I am so thankful I get to be a part of saving lives everyday."

Narden Hanna

"Before joining MTCVI in 2022, I spent 3 years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as a structural heart research coordinator. I chose to join this program because I spent a lot of time looking at echos and always had a sense of curiosity to learning more about them. Echo plays a big role in the structural heart world and I was eager to be part of it. My favorite thing about this program is the size of the class, and the preparation the instructor puts in to not only get the class lots of scan time prior to the start of clinical rotation but the preparation to sit for the CCI exam. 
 
After graduating at the beginning of 2023. I took a role with Edwards Lifesciences in California as a clinical imaging associate specialist in the TMTT Clinical Imaging Academy.
 
I love that because of this program I can continue to help patients receive the therapies they need to have a better quality of life."

Chelsey Key

"I graduated from MTCVI April of 2023. I chose MTCVI because of how intentional the instructors are to helping you achieve. I really valued the lectures and the willingness of the instructors to go above and beyond to explain things. A smaller class size really helped me get familiar with everyone and not be nervous to ask any questions. I would recommend this school to anyone who would be interested in this field!

Before I came to MTCVI I got my undergraduate degree and worked as an EKG Tech. I knew I didn’t want to do EKG forever and I felt the next step was Echo! I’ve always been interested in the heart and EKG was a stepping stone to learning and getting the hospital experience before really diving into the career I wanted. I now currently work as an Echo tech at St Thomas Midtown in Nashville, TN. I have really loved this job so much already! It challenges me everyday and knowing I’m helping patients get the care they need is so rewarding!"

Taylor Gordon

"Before I started school at MTCVI, I was working the front desk at a heart clinic. After a few months of being involved in cardiac care, I knew I wanted to progress my career in that field. In early 2020, my dad suffered from a stroke that was inevitably life altering for him. That, and encouragement from my physicians at the time, is what really solidified my decision to go back to school to further myself in the cardiac world. I researched and shadowed all the different modalities and immediately fell in love with ultrasound. It is one of the most personable testing modalities, in my opinion, and because it is an overall skill that has to be obtained, you heavily affect the outcome of every test. I graduated from MTCVI in 2022. The reason I chose this program is because I loved how it was strictly a cardiac sonography program so I would be learning all of the intricate details of the heart. I also loved how small the class was so it wasn't overwhelming when we were having to work in pairs and we all became really close friends by the end of it. It also allowed for us to have a better one on one relationship with the instructor when we were needing extra help on certain material.

Currently, I work at St. Thomas Heart in Franklin in the diagnostic imaging department as an echo sonographer. I can easily say since starting this career, I am the absolute happiest I have been in my whole life. Every day I am so grateful for the path that led me to this very humbling, caring and rewarding career. I love the challenge of knowing you will learn something new almost every day and it's nice to know the cardiologists support your work 100%. Sure, every day is almost a struggle in some aspect, but that doesn't amount to the happiness I feel when I know I have heavily contributed to someone's health. I absolutely love being a part of the overall outcome of cardiac care. All I want is to prevent someone else going through what my dad went through, and that starts with interventional and non-invasive cardiac care."

Nathaniel Rowley

I graduated MTCVI in April of 2022. I chose MTCVI because it gave me the opportunity to pursue a career I was passionate about while at the same getting 1 on 1 training and guidance from both teachers at MTCVI and other Cardiac Sonographers at my clinical site. MTCVI gave me a chance to fulfill what I believe to be my calling. I currently work at TriStar Summit Medical Center, in Hermitage, TN, as a Cardiac Sonographer. I find this career rewarding because of the interaction we get to have with patients on a day to day basis. We often see people in sometimes the worst moments of their life, and being able to play a key role in their improvement of their health and as well as their spirit is what drives me to come to work and to be my best every day!

Jillian Smith

I graduated in Spring of 2023, it has been both a blessing and privilege to work in the field of echocardiography. My objective has always been to find a career in the medical field that would match my goals in patient care while using my technical skills. I chose MTCVI due to their high-quality education and competence that they provide for each individual student in the field of Cardiac Sonography. I currently work at Saint Thomas West where I perform Transthoracic Echocardiograms. My everyday examinations include 2D, 3D, Strain, Research studies, TAVRs, Mitral Clips, Valve replacements, HOCM, LVAD and Heart Transplants. I find caring for each individual patient very rewarding. 

Anita Fileva

"I graduated in 2022, I chose MTCVI because it is in a convenient location, it is ran by professionals from the industry, so they possess the knowledge, the skills as well as a long experience in the industry. I used to work in the restaurant industry and it was a different way of taking care of people. In 2015 after about 15 years I joined the Healthcare Field as a noninvasive cardiac technician, I was performing EKGs, placing Holter and Event monitors, monitoring patients on Telemetry while admitted in the hospital. I was working at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular department in Nashville. After towards the end of the pandemic, I’ve decided to continue my career, a new path in the non-invasive cardiology field.
I enrolled in MTCVI because the program is only 12 months and focused, provided the knowledge and the skills I needed for the role of a cardiac sonographer. I continued working at Vanderbilt Medical Center, now as a cardiac sonographer because as an educational institution I can continue developing my knowledge and skills as a sonographer and VUMC is among the highly recommended institutions for patient care. I am very happy that I made this change in my career and pursued cardiac sonography, it has opened many new opportunities for personal,
professional and financial growth."