ARDMS CME Requirements

CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION (CME) REQUIREMENTS

Maintain your ARDMS credentials by earning the minimum required number of ARDMS-accepted CMEs within your three-year CME period.

Note: APCA RMSK and RPVI credentials are included below because the CME requirements for physician credentials vary, depending on combinations with ARDMS credentials. Physicians, refer to the APCA website for more CME information.

Minimum Required Number of ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs for Credentials Held

• RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs
• RMSKS + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 10 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal
ultrasound and 20 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in any specialty area (30 total)

• RMSK + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound
• RPVI + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in vascular ultrasound
• RPVI + RMSK: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in vascular ultrasound and 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs
in musculoskeletal ultrasound
• RPVI + RMSK + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs vascular ultrasound
AND 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound
• RPVI: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in vascular ultrasound
• RMSK: 30 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound
• RMSKS: 10 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound and 20 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs
in any specialty area (30 total)

Important Information Regarding Your CME Requirement: While ARDMS does not award CME credits, we do waive 15 CME credits when a candidate earns a new credential and when a candidate passes a new specialty examination under a credential that has already been earned (i.e., someone who already earned RDMS with AB will be waived 15 CME credits if he/she takes and passes OB). You will be able to view these waived CME credits in your CME Bank. The waived CME credits are valid only for the three-year period in which they are earned.

HOW DO I MAINTAIN MY CME DOCUMENTATION?

You must maintain your CME Certificates for a minimum of four years in case of an audit. You can maintan your CME Certificates in the following ways:

Hold on to the certificates yourself and only mail them in if you are selected for CME audit.
Upload them to the ARDMS CME Bank.

CMEs earned from providers that participate in the ARDMS Tracker Program are directly transferred from that provider to your ARDMS CME Bank. Please note that processing times will vary depending upon the participating organization. You must be a member of the organization for the CMEs to transfer.

CME documentation received without an audit selection request will be discarded.

CME TRACKER PROGRAM

To help you maintain your ARDMS credentials, we have established direct CME reporting agreements with the following organizations: American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), the Institute for Advanced Medical Education (IAME), the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS), and the Society of Vascular Ultrasound (SVU).

CMEs earned through these affiliate organizations are transferred directly to ARDMS and will be added to your ARDMS CME transcript in accordance with the circumstances below. Note: It can take 2 -3 weeks for your CMEs to be reflected in your CME Bank.

You must be a current member of the affiliate organization (with the exception of IAME) in order for CME credits earned through that organization to be automatically reflected on your ARDMS CME transcript. AMA Category 1 CMEs from IAME will be transferred; no membership is needed.
Your first name, last name, and ARDMS ID number on record with the affiliate organization must exactly match the first name, last name, and ID number on record with ARDMS. That information can be verified in MY ARDMS or by contacting ARDMS Customer Care.
CME credits earned prior to being both a current member of the affiliate organization and an Active ARDMS Registrant will not be included in the tracker program. However, they can be manually uploaded into the CME Bank through the MY ARDMS portal.
Only Category A and A+ CMEs from the ASRT will be transferred.

We continue to explore CME reporting agreements with other ARDMS-approved CME providers to better serve you.

HOW DO I CHECK MY CME PERIOD?

To check your three-year CME period* and view your ARDMS CME Bank, log on to MY ARDMS.

*CME period update takes place mid-March of every year. If your CME period ends in the preceding year the CME period will not update until mid-March when ARDMS will begin the CME Audit process for Registrants. If you are not chosen for the CME Audit your 3-year CME period will rollover at that time.

WHAT IS THE CME AUDIT PROCESS?

Each March, ARDMS conducts a CME audit and randomly selects Registrants who have completed their three-year CME period. For example, Registrants with a three-year CME period ending December 31 of this year may be randomly selected for the CME audit March of the coming year.

If you are selected for an audit and have the required number of ARDMS-accepted CMEs in your ARDMS CME Bank at the time your three-year CME period ends, you may automatically pass the audit.

ARDMS will notify you in writing if you have been selected for an audit and need to submit CME documentation. If audited in March, you will have one month (until April 30) to submit the required CME documentation. For more information, review the CME Audit Process.

WHAT IF YOU MISS THE CME AUDIT DEADLINE?

If you miss the CME Audit deadline of April 30, you are eligible for CME Reinstatement by August 1. The process is comprised of submitting multiple documents by August 1 of your audit year. Otherwise, your credential(s) will be permanently revoked.