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The Myth of "Registry-Eligible"

The short list of things many folks believe in, but are not real:

Santa Claus
Easter Bunny
A free lunch
ARDMS "registry-eligible" classification

Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of ultrasound providers are working in hospitals and other imaging facilities throughout the country by invoking the ARDMS credentialing category, "registry-eligible". Recruitment ads for sonographers, vascular sonographers, and cardiac sonographers routinely call for employment candidates who have ARDMS certification or who are "registry-eligible". Some sonographers have created long-term careers without ever having acquired ARDMS certification because they fulfill the job description qualification of "registry-eligible". Problem is, that like the Easter Bunny, "registry-eligible" simply does not exist.

In an interview with the ARDMS Executive Director, Dale Cyr, the issue of "registry-eligible" came up for discussion. Mr. Cyr stated, "ARDMS does not recognize the term "registry-eligible". We have three recognized levels within our examination process:

Applicant: an individual sends in an application for internal review in hopes he/she will be allowed to sit for our examination(s).
Candidate: an applicant has met all required prerequisites and is allowed to sit for ARDMS examination(s). A candidate will receive official notification in the mail and has 90 days to take the approved examination(s).
Registrant: a candidate has successfully completed a Physics (or Principles) and Instrumentation examination with a correlating specialty examination to earn a RDMS, RDCS, or RVT credential.

It is also important to note that first-time candidates have 5 years to successfully complete both examinations (physics and correlating specialty), from the time they are officially notified that they are a candidate. Failure to achieve the first credential prior to the end of the 5 year timeframe will require reapplying as a first-time candidate and retaking any previous examination to achieve an ARDMS credential (RDMS, RDCS, RVT, ROUB)."

Patients served by sonographers throughout the country deserve the highest quality provider accountability tool available. The "gold standard" within the ultrasound community is ARDMS certification.

"Registry-eligible" is a myth and the patients we serve deserve more than myth.

For information, visit the ARDMS website at:

http://www.ardms.org