If you want to become an ultrasound technician you will need to have a degree and then sit your certification exams before you will allowed to work in a medical facility. This is not a career where you can train on the job although relevant work experience is obviously important when it comes to developing your skills.
The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography is the leading provider of qualifications for a ultrasound technician. The ARDMS certification exams consist of one exam that is common to all sonographers regardless of the area of medicine they decide to specialize in. The SPI exam covers the Sonography Principles and the Instrumentation you will use in your career. It is a multiple choice exam and consists of 120 questions.
In addition to the SPI exam you will also sit another exam depending on the area of specialism that interests you. The mainstream choices center on the Abdomen, Obstetrics, Breast ultrasound, fetal echocardiography or for those who want to specialize in neurological problems, neurosonology. If you wish to specialize in the cardiac field for example if you wanted to become an echocardiogram technologist you can elect to take specific exams in this area.
Each specialist subject exam has an allotted time of 3 hours to complete 170 questions. You can take more than one specialist subject but for certification purposes only one is required in addition to the SPI. In addition to passing the exams, you must also fulfill certain other criteria before you can use the designation RDMS after your name.
For those who want to specialize in cardiology they could elect to become a registered diagnostic cardiac sonographer (RDCS) instead by sitting the SPI exam and picking one of three options under the echocardiogram certification section:
- Adult Echocardiography
- Fetal Echocardiography
- Pediatric Echocardiography
The specialist exams tend to include some video case studies so you can show that you not only know the theory but can apply it to a case study.
Don’t let the fact that the exam questions are multiple choice give you the impression these exams are easy. You need to be fully prepared before you sit the Ultrasound technician qualification.