ARDMS

Notes About the SPI Examination Requirement • The SPI Examination Requirement applies to the SPI examination only. • If the SPI examination is your first ARDMS examination (excluding PVI and MSK), please note: those who can fully meet an existing ARDMS prerequisite (1 through 7) are strongly encouraged to apply under that prerequisite, as future application processing will be faster and easier. • Applicants who have been approved to take one of the following examinations will apply as a re-applicant (no required supporting documentation): AB, BR, OB/GYN, FE, AE, PE VT, PS, MSKS). • A clinical verification (CV) form is not required for the SPI examination. • To apply for an ARDMS specialty examination (AB, BR, OB/GYN, FE, AE, PE VT, PS), an existing ARDMS prerequisite (1 through 7) must be met. Notes About the Prerequisites 1 A two-year allied health education program that is patient-care related is defined as (1) 24 full-time consecutive calendar months or (2) 60 semester credits or (3) 84 quarter credits (4) and requiring a clinical internship/ externship to complete the program. Credit hours are based on U.S. equivalency in a post secondary institution. The program or school must be authorized by an accrediting agency to award semester or quarter credits and the type of credits granted must be reflected on the transcript. Transcripts reflecting clock hours must be converted to credit hours. If submitting a foreign degree, an original course by course foreign transcript evaluation must accompany the application summary and indicate the aforementioned requirements. 2 Full-time is defined as 35 hours per week, at least 48 weeks per year. If working part time, the requirements are prorated. Twenty hours per week would take approximately two years. The full-time definition applies to both paid clinical ultrasound/vascular experience and experience earned through completion of a formal ultrasound/ vascular program. 3 Clinical ultrasound/vascular experience may be obtained one of two ways: (1) being employed as an ultrasound/ vascular sonographer in a clinical setting for a minimum of 12 months and a minimum of 1,680 hours, or (2) successfully completing a formal, full-time ultrasound/vascular program that is a minimum of 12 months in length, a minimum of 1,680 total program hours, including appropriate clinical and didactic hours, and requires a clinical internship/externship to complete the program. If the total length of the program exceeds 12 months, the applicant must successfully complete the program in its entirety prior to using the program as documentation of the required clinical ultrasound/vascular experience. It is recommended that an applicant be directly involved in a minimum of 800 diagnostic cases during his/her clinical experience in each specialty area for which he/she is applying. Clinical diagnostic settings include hospitals, clinics and private practices. ARDMS does not accept volunteer, instructorship, unpaid, barter or veterinarian experience. The time frames in which the education and clinical requirements are met cannot overlap. Clinical experience earned to document the education requirement cannot also be used to support the clinical requirement. 4 The mandatory Prerequisite 2 Application letter (found on ARDMS.org /sampleletters) is valid for one year from the date of graduation. If the application and appropriate supporting documentation are not received within one year from the date of graduation, after one year of successful completion of the program, the applicant will need new documentation verifying successful program completion, and a current, completed, original signed CV form for each applied-for specialty area will be required. An original letter per student is required. First-time applicants applying under Prerequisite 2 must apply for either the Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) examination or a specialty area that is included within the programmatically accredited curriculum. 5 The mandatory Student Prerequisite 3B Application Letter (found on ARDMS.org/sampleletters), is valid through the expected graduation date. If the student chooses to apply after graduation, then the Graduate Prerequisite 3B Application letter (found on ARDMS.org /sampleletters) and a current, completed, original CV form for each applied-for specialty area will be required. An original letter per student is required. Note: If the Bachelor's Degree sonography/ vascular technology program is also programmatically accredited through one of the following: Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), United States Department of Education (USDOE), or Canadian Medical Association (CMA), and the students have graduated, then the prerequisite 3B students should apply under prerequisite 2. Note: ARDMS, in its discretion, may request from you or others information concerning matters that may be relevant to your eligibility for certification and certification status. Documentation (MD licenses, CMEs, etc.) received in a language other than English must include a notarized translation in English and all submitted foreign degrees must be accompanied by a course by course evaluation done by a Foreign Education Transcript Evaluation Organization. All documents, communications, and other information received by ARDMS become the property of ARDMS and will not be returned. ARDMS.org Important: The name on all supporting documentation must be consistent and must match the name under which you apply. If it does not, you will need to submit legal documentation of the name change (e.g. a marriage/divorce certificate) with your application summary page and all other supporting documentation. General Prerequisites Continued & Important Notes

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