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Continuing Medical Education (CME) Requirements

Maintain your APCA and/or ARDMS certification(s) by earning the minimum required number of APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs within your three-year CME period.

Minimum Required Number of APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs for Certifications Held*:

  • RPVI: 30 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs in vascular ultrasound
  • RMSK: 30 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound
  • RPVI + RMSK: 30 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs in vascular ultrasound and 30 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound
  • RPVI + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 30 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs in vascular ultrasound
  • RPVI + RMSK + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 30 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs vascular ultrasound AND 30 APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound
  • RMSK + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 10 APCA/ARDMS-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound and 20 ARDMS-accepted CME’s in any specialty area (30 total)
  • RMSKS: 10 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound and 20 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in any specialty area (30 total)
  • RMSKS + RDMS and/or RDCS and/or RVT: 10 ARDMS-accepted CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound and 20 ARDMS/APCA-accepted CMEs in any specialty area (30 total)* Note: RDMS, RDCS and RVT are ARDMS certifications. Since there is a single CME requirement for physicians who hold APCA and/or ARDMS certifications, ARDMS certifications are included above.

Important Information Regarding Your CME Requirement: While APCA 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.

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

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

CMEs earned from providers that participate in the ARDMS/APCA Tracker Program are directly transferred from that provider to your 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.

To check your three-year CME period and view your CME Bank, log onto MY APCA​.

Each March, APCA conducts a CME audit and randomly selects Certificants who have completed their three-year CME period. For example, Certificants 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 accepted CMEs in your CME Bank at the time your three-year CME period ends, you may automatically pass the audit.

APCA 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 (by April 30) to submit the required CME documentation. For more information, review the CME Audit Process​​.

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 certification(s) will be permanently revoked.

Review the entire procedure at Reinstatement (CME Audit)​.

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

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