After three years of countless hours researching and writing, Steven Penny’s ultrasound

textbook is hot off the press.

Penny, the lead sonography instructor at Johnston Community College, has penned the 380-page “Examination Review for Ultrasound.” Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, the book is available at book stores and in e-book form.

“I felt there was a need in the market and it has always been a personal goal for me to write a book so I submitted a proposal to a publisher,” he said. “My reviewers liked it, and I signed a contract and started writing.”

Penny said the book is designed to be a review resource for sonography students studying to take their registry exams. “It’s written in a down-to-earth style and not complicated,”

Penny said. “That was my goal. A lot of textbooks go right over students’ heads. I tried to write this in a way to help them understand the pathology.”

In recent years, JCC’s sonography registry scores have been close to perfect while national scores lag way behind, averaging about 60 or 70 percent. Penny said he hopes the textbook will assist students nationwide in studying for their certification exams and becoming skilled sonographers.

“My students a lot of times will use notes from my class to study for the registry so I chose to format the book in a way that’s similar to the way I teach,” Penny said.

“Hopefully, this will make them feel comfortable with the material and really understand it.”

Cathy Godwin, director of sonography programs at JCC, said she is most proud of Penny.

“Steven is a hard worker and gives everything he has to his students and they absolutely adore him,” Godwin said. “He uses a lot of teaching styles in the classroom so that every student learns well. His teaching atmosphere is very light-hearted and compassionate and his love for the profession and for teaching is outstanding.”

Penny dedicated the book to his wife, Lisa, who is also a registered sonographer, and his two children, Devin and Reagan. And he acknowledges the support of Godwin, Linda Smith, and his co-workers at JCC for the project.

“This project is professionally rewarding and certainly personally rewarding,” Penny said. “It’s been a long and hard process, but very exciting at the same time. When I got the first copy in the mail,that was awesome.”

Penny is a JCC radiography and sonography graduate and he earned his bachelor’s degree from Mount Olive College. He resides in the Cleveland area.

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