Radiography Exam

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) offers the Radiography exam for certification purposes. This test measures a candidate's knowledge and comprehension of the responsibilities that an entry-level staff technologist in this specialized field would generally need to possess. Candidates must meet specific eligibility requirements before taking this test.

Candidates will be given 3½ hours to finish 220 multiple-choice items. The time spent on a tutorial at the beginning is not counted towards the test time. The content of the test is broken down as follows:

Radiation protection 20%

• Biological aspects of radiation (10 questions)
• Minimizing patient exposure (12 questions)
• Personnel protection (9 questions)
• Radiation exposure and monitoring (9 questions)

Equipment operation and quality control 12%

• Principles of radiation physics (10 questions)
• Radiographic equipment (10 questions)
• Quality control of radiographic equipment and accessories (4 questions)

Image production and evaluation 25%

• Selection of technical factors (30 questions)
• Image processing and quality assurance (12 questions)
• Criteria for image evaluation (8 questions)

Radiographic procedures 30%

• Thorax (6 questions)
• Abdomen and GI studies (9 questions)
• Urological studies (4 questions)
• Spine and pelvis (10 questions)
• Cranium (7 questions)
• Extremities (22 questions)
• Other (2 questions)

Patient care and education 13%

• Ethical and legal aspects (5 questions)
• Interpersonal communication (3 questions)
• Infection control (8 questions)
• Physical assistance and transfer (2 questions)
• Medical emergencies (2 questions)
• Contrast media (6 questions)

Every test includes 20 extra questions which are not scored; these are pre-trial items which may be used on future exams. Candidates will not know which items are scored and which are not. The raw score (the number answered correctly) will be converted to a scaled score in the 0-99 range. The minimum passing scaled score is 70.