ARDMS awards the RDCS credential (Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer) to sonographers who pass the Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) exam, the Adult Echocardiography specialty exam or the Fetal Echocardiography specialty exam.

The Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) exam is 2 hours long and consists of 110 multiple-choice and semi-interactive console questions, approximately half of which are about ultrasound physics per se. We strongly recommend Ultrasound Physics Review: SPI Edition (mock exam in book format) and/or the Ultrasound Physics CD-ROM Mock Exam: SPI Edition. If you need to strengthen your understanding of the basic principles and instrumentation of ultrasound, you should also have a standard ultrasound physics text—Kremkau's Sonography Principles and Instruments 9th edition.

The Adult Echocardiography specialty exam is 3 hours in length and contains approximately 150 multiple-choice questions. We recommend that candidates combine the Ultrasound Physics Review: SPI Edition with Echocardiography Review, a mock exam in book format that covers both the specialty exam and the cardiac-specific items on the cardiac physics exam.

The Fetal Echocardiography specialty exam is 3 hours in length and contains 150 multiple-choice questions. We recommend that candidates combine a Step 1 review text (Fetal Ultrasound: How, Why and When) with either or both Step 2 mock exams (Fetal Echo CD-ROM Mock Exam and/or Fetal Echo Review).