To reschedule the date and time of your examination during your eligibility period, you must contact Pearson VUE (1-877-258-9220) at least 96 hours prior to the scheduled examination date and time.

To cancel an examination appointment, you must contact Pearson VUE (1-877-258-9220) and cancel the scheduled appointment no later than 96 hours prior to the scheduled examination appointment time. You will receive a cancellation email from Pearson VUE.

​To request a partial refund, you must wait 24 hours after canceling the appointment with Pearson VUE and then submit a cancellation/partial refund request no later than 96 hours prior to the last date of the eligibility period.

To submit this request:

1. Log in to your MY ARDMS/MY APCA account.
2. Visit “My Examination/Application Status” under “Application Center.”
3. Select the examination you wish to request a partial refund for.
4. Complete and submit the form.

We will refund your examination fee, less the $100 USD processing fee per examination, unless we receive your request too late, you never schedule your examination or you do not keep your scheduled examination appointment. Then, the entire examination and processing fees are forfeited.

If you need more time and cannot schedule your examination within the 90-day eligibility period, you can request a one-time 60-day extension for the examination. You must request this extension at least 96 hours prior to the last date of the eligibility period.

To request an extension:

1. Log in to your MY ARDMS/MY APCA account.
2. Visit “My Examination/Application Status” under “Application Center.”
3. Select the examination you wish to extend.
4. Complete and submit the form.

If you have a scheduled examination appointment, you must contact Pearson VUE ​(1-877-258-9220) at least 96 hours prior to the scheduled examination, and notify them that you are cancelling your scheduled appointment before you complete the steps above to request an extension.

The entire examination fee is forfeited if we receive your request too late, you never schedule your examination or you do not keep your scheduled examination appointment.​

When you arrive at a test center, be prepared to:

• Check in with a Test Center Administrator
• Present one valid photo identification (ID); see Test Center Identification Requirements
• Provide a digital signature
• Have your palm vein scanned
• Take a test-day photograph

Note: The only thing that you can bring into the testing room is you. The test centers have lockers you can use to store personal belongings. Study materials as well as food and drink are prohibited in the test center. No visitors, guests, pets or children are allowed.

Important: Review ARDMS’s Examination Admission Compliance​ ​policies to ensure you are not refused admission at the test center and do not conduct unauthorized examination behavior.

Test centers will provide white boards for notes during the examination upon request.

If you need special accommodations, please select “Yes” for “Special Accommodations” in the application when you apply.

Each practice test costs $45 USD.

You can now register for an AB practice test by signing into your MY ARDMS/MY APCA account and clicking the Sign Up/View Practice Test option in the Application Center tab. You can also view the computer system requirements in your MY APCA portal. For any general questions or technical problems regarding the practice tests, please call APCA at (800) 943-1709 or email [email protected] for assistance.

Before your session begins, you should review the test tutorial​. Please note you will not get a chance to review the test tutorial during the actual practice test, so please prepare accordingly. Once your session begins, you have 30 minutes to complete the practice test.

Register for an AB practice test, by signing in your MY ARDMS/MY APCA account.

Anatomy, Perfusion, and Function [30%]

• Assess physical characteristics of anatomic structures
• Assess perfusion and function of anatomic structures

Pathology, Vascular Abnormalities, Trauma, and Postoperative Anatomy [42%]

• Assess anatomic structures for pathology
• Assess anatomic structures for vascular abnormalities
• Assess anatomic structures for trauma-related abnormalities
• Assess aspects related to postoperative anatomy

Abdominal Physics [8%]

• Apply concepts of equipment/image optimization
• Apply concepts of imaging artifacts​

Clinical Care, Practice, and Quality Assurance [20%]

• Incorporate clinical data with performed study
• Incorporate clinical standard/guidelines with performed study
• Obtain accurate measurements
• Assist/support during procedures​

Please note: All percentages are approximate.

Your score report will display and include performance feedback for these content areas

After all of your diligent preparation and hours spent studying, here are a few valuable tips to help make your examination day a success:

• Double check that you know where the test center is before examination day and give yourself plenty of time to get there. Remember, you MUST arrive and register at least 30 minutes before the examination begins.
• Get a good night’s sleep before you take your examination. Being well rested and relaxed when you take your examination will help you concentrate.
• Bring one form of current and valid identification that complies with the test center identification requirements​​.
• Travel light. The only thing you can bring into the testing room is you. You can store your personal belongings — your car keys, watch, smartphone, purse, backpack, etc. — in lockers at the test center. The following items are not allowed in test centers: study materials, food, drink, visitors/guests, pets and children.
• Request a white board if you plan to jot down notes during the examination. Test centers are using white boards (rather than paper) in an effort to “go green.”
• Be advised that the use of a calculator for this examination is prohibited.  However, you may utilize the White Board provided at the test center or the digital White Board provided for online proctoring examinations for manual calculations.

Good luck!

Even though we offer practice examinations and sample questions, we do not offer study materials for our examinations – but our sister organizations do. You can find materials at:

• Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
• American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
• Society for Vascular Ultrasound
• American Society of Echocardiography
• American College of Nursing- Midwives 

​The AB examination features Advanced Item Types (AIT) questions​​, which assess and measure your practical sonography skills. They include hotspot questions in which you will receive questions about individual images. You will use the cursor to mark the correct answer directly on the image.

Watch the video presented by APCA’s companion organization for sonographers, ARDMS: How to Answer a Hotspot Question.

You can receive a score report at the test center once you complete the examination. Additionally, your score report will be available in your Pearson VUE account. The Pass or Fail results will then be posted to your secure MY ARDMS/MY APCA account within the next week.

Candidates receiving a confirmed passing score on all required examinations and meeting all other requirements will be awarded a certification, effective the date the final examination was taken. For information on the ARDMS’ scoring methods, visit Notification of Results and Scoring​.

Candidates who do not pass are invited to re-apply but must wait 60 days between attempts.

You can request a score verification for a $35 USD fee, payable by check, money order or credit card. Score verification ensures that the computer counted the correct and incorrect answers appropriately, but it does not review the questions and answers.

You must submit the completed Exam Score Verification Form​​​ within 30 days of having taken the examination in question. The Exam Score Verification Form will be returned if incomplete, unsigned or unpaid.

When deciding whether to have your score verified, please consider that examinations are scored electronically with a high degree of accuracy, and it is unlikely that verification will alter your original score.