Jayne Leypoldt knew she wanted a career in healthcare—but not as a nurse or doctor. Unsure of her next step, she worked as a bartender while figuring out her future. A conversation with a regular changed everything.

“He told me about cardiac sonography—the patient care, the teamwork, and how vital the role is,” Jayne recalls. “It sounded like exactly what I was looking for.”

That spark led Jayne to pursue training, earn her credentials, and join Duke Health in 2011. Nearly 14 years later, she’s now a Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer (RDCS) and holds the Advanced Cardiac Sonography (ACS) credential, thriving in a career that blends technology, medicine, and patient care.

A career full of variety and impact
Each week, Jayne rotates through several key roles: reading coordinator, quality assurance, echo advisor, and charge sonographer.

As reading coordinator, Jayne assigns the 170+ echocardiograms performed by her team to the physicians responsible for interpreting them. In quality assurance, she dives into data and processes, ensuring the lab meets the highest standards for patient care.

In her role as echo advisor, Jayne becomes a go-to resource—helping with patients, reports, equipment, and mentoring newer sonographers. Some weeks, she steps up as charge sonographer, managing schedules and keeping everything running smoothly.

Driving innovation through research and teaching
Jayne’s impact doesn’t stop with her patients. She has co-authored cardiology and anesthesia papers, contributed to abstracts, and written three chapters in echocardiography textbooks.

“Duke has given us so many opportunities to grow,” said Jayne. “They push us to be involved in the community and our professional societies. There’s always something new to learn.”

Her commitment to growth and service has taken her across the globe. Jayne has performed echocardiograms on children with heart disease in Rwanda, educated clinicians in India about cardiac care, and even scanned the hearts of scuba divers—while fighting seasickness—on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

The heart of the work
Whether she’s writing research papers, lecturing at conferences, or working one-on-one with patients, Jayne always comes back to the same motivation: making a difference.

“It is really rewarding to see how our work affects patient care,” said Jayne. “The team values what we do. We’re out on the floor, seeing patients get the care they need and knowing we had a part in that—it’s incredible.”

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