Quick answer
> Quick answer: A sonography credential isn’t permanent — it’s kept active through continuing education on a recurring cycle. ARDMS credentials use a three-year cycle of 25 CMEs, plus an annual attestation, a renewal fee, and an annual knowledge check. CCI’s registry-level credentials require 36 CEUs every three years. The exact numbers depend on which body issued your credential and which credential you hold.
Passing the exam is the start, not the finish. Once you’re registered, you keep that registration by doing continuing education and renewing on schedule. Here’s how the major bodies handle it, and what the routine actually looks like year to year.
Why credentials have to be renewed
Medicine changes. Equipment changes. Protocols change. A credential that never expired would, over time, stop meaning the holder is current.
So credentialing bodies tie registration to continuing education. You earn continuing-education credits — CMEs (continuing medical education) or CEUs (continuing education units), depending on the body — and report them on a set cycle. Keep up, and your credential stays active. Fall behind, and it can lapse.
This isn’t unique to sonography. Most healthcare credentials work this way. But the specific numbers and timing are worth knowing before you commit, because they’re part of the long-term picture, not just the entry one.
ARDMS renewal: the three-year MOC cycle
ARDMS credentials are maintained through a program called Maintenance of Certification, or MOC. It’s required of all active registrants.
The core of MOC is a recurring three-year CME period. Holders of RDMS, RDCS, RVT, or RMSKS — whether you hold one of those or several in combination — complete 25 ARDMS- or APCA-accepted CMEs in any specialty area within each three-year window.
“In any specialty area” is a useful detail. The 25 CMEs don’t all have to be in your exact subspecialty; they can come from across accepted sonography continuing education. The cycle is three years long, so it’s 25 credits spread across that span rather than a yearly scramble.
The annual pieces ARDMS adds
The three-year CME cycle isn’t the only thing. ARDMS also has annual components that happen every year, separate from the CME count.
- An annual attestation — confirming you’re meeting the program’s requirements.
- An annual renewal fee — paid each year to keep the credential active.
- An annual Knowledge Confirmation — a yearly knowledge check completed through the Inteleos SKILLS platform, added as a requirement as of 2026.
So the rhythm is: a big three-year CME target running in the background, plus a few smaller obligations every single year. None of the annual pieces is large, but they’re recurring, and missing them affects your active status.
CCI renewal: 36 CEUs every three years
If your credential came from CCI rather than ARDMS, the renewal math is different.
CCI’s registry-level credentials — including the RCS (cardiac) and RVS (vascular) — require 36 CEUs per three-year renewal cycle. One quirk worth knowing: the first renewal after you earn the credential is a fee only, with no CEU requirement for that first cycle. After that, the 36-CEU cycle applies.
So a CCI-credentialed sonographer and an ARDMS-credentialed one are both on three-year cycles, but the continuing-education count isn’t identical — 36 CEUs for CCI registry credentials versus 25 CMEs for the main ARDMS credentials.
Specialty credentials with their own counts
A few ARDMS specialty credentials carry their own, higher continuing-education numbers.
Holders of the ARDMS RMSK credential (musculoskeletal) complete 30 CMEs in musculoskeletal ultrasound per three-year period. Holders of the RPVI credential complete 30 CMEs in vascular ultrasound per three-year period. These are specialty-specific — the credits have to be in that area, not just any sonography topic.
So while 25 CMEs covers the main ARDMS credentials, the exact figure can shift up depending on the specialty. The pattern to take away: check the requirement for the specific credential you hold, because the number isn’t one-size-fits-all.
How the year-to-year routine feels
Sonographers who’ve been through a few renewal cycles describe it as a background task, not a crisis — as long as you don’t ignore it.
Continuing education comes from a lot of places: conferences, online courses, journal-based activities, employer-provided training. Many sonographers accumulate credits gradually rather than cramming them at the end of a cycle. The annual fee and attestation are quick. The yearly knowledge check is a modern addition that adds one more recurring item to the calendar.
The honest version: renewal is ongoing, low-grade administrative upkeep that never fully goes away. It’s not difficult, but it’s permanent. If the idea of tracking continuing-education credits for the length of a career sounds tedious, that’s a real and reasonable thing to weigh.
Key takeaways
- Sonography credentials are kept active through continuing education on a recurring cycle — they’re not permanent.
- ARDMS uses a three-year cycle of 25 CMEs (for RDMS, RDCS, RVT, RMSKS), plus an annual attestation, fee, and knowledge check.
- CCI’s registry-level credentials (like RCS and RVS) require 36 CEUs per three-year cycle, with the first renewal being fee-only.
- Some ARDMS specialty credentials — RMSK and RPVI — require 30 specialty-specific CMEs per three years.
- The routine is ongoing administrative upkeep rather than a hard test; the exact numbers depend on your credential and body.