RTVI Certification

What the RTVI Credential Actually Is

On this site, RTVI is shorthand for the Registered Technologist - Vascular-Interventional Radiography pathway. The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) does not use "RTVI" as its own designation. Its official discipline name is Vascular Interventional Radiography, abbreviated VI, and it is a postprimary credential. That means it sits on top of an existing ARRT primary pathway rather than replacing it.

It is also a distinct credential from several things people confuse it with. It is not the ARRT Cardiac Interventional Radiography credential, it is not Vascular Sonography, and it has no relationship to the CCI RCIS credential. Each has its own requirements, content specifications and exam. If you are still sorting out terminology, our explainers on what RTVI certification is and what RTVI stands for cover the naming in more depth.

The credential signals that a radiologic technologist has documented hands-on experience in angiography and interventional suite work and has passed a standardized, proctored exam on the full scope of that work: patient care, image production and radiation protection, and the procedures themselves.

The Eligibility Stack: Radiography, Education and Clinical Reps

Eligibility is layered, and the layers are checked in a specific way. The full breakdown lives in our RTVI requirements guide; here is the structure you need to plan around.

Layer 1: A current ARRT Radiography credential

You must hold current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography, and you must be in compliance with ARRT ethics requirements. One detail trips people up: Nuclear Medicine Technology or Radiation Therapy alone is not a supporting credential for VI. The postprimary route expects the Radiography foundation.

Layer 2: 16 hours of structured education

Within the 24 months before you apply, you need 16 hours of structured education, with at least one credit in each major content category. The three categories mirror the exam blueprint: Patient Care, Image Production and Procedures. Treat this as an early deadline, because the education window and the clinical window both run on the same 24-month clock.

Layer 3: Current BLS and 200 verified procedure repetitions

You need current Basic Life Support certification from an ARRT-recognized provider, plus at least 200 verified procedure repetitions within the 24-month eligibility window. The distribution is specific:

• At least 50 in vascular diagnostic procedures
• At least 50 in vascular interventional procedures
• At least 50 in nonvascular procedures
• 50 additional repetitions from any category

Who verifies your experience

A qualified ARRT-certified and registered technologist, a supervisor or an interpreting physician must verify your experience. For postprimary credentials, the verifier does not need to have directly observed your work and may verify remotely. That flexibility helps technologists who rotate across sites, but it does not relax the underlying rule that you actually performed the work.

Exam Mechanics: Format, Timing and Scoring

The exam is computer-based and delivered at Pearson VUE test centers. It is closed book. The numbers to know:

The unscored pilot questions

Fifty of the 210 items are unscored pilot questions, and you cannot tell which ones they are. Do not try to guess. Treat every item as scored, because a question that feels unusually obscure may simply be a pilot item, and spending extra minutes on it costs real time.

Pacing with forced advancement

Because you must answer each item before moving on, you cannot skip and return to a blank. The workable approach is to select your best answer, flag the item if you are unsure, and keep moving. With 210 questions in 210 minutes, you have roughly one minute per item on average, and image-based questions typically eat more than their share.

Understanding the passing score

The passing score is 75 on ARRT's 1-99 scaled-score range. It is not 75% of questions answered correctly. Scaled scoring adjusts for the difficulty of the particular exam form so that results are comparable across versions. For a fuller explanation, see our RTVI passing score guide.

The Content Blueprint: Where the 160 Scored Questions Live

The controlling document is the Vascular Interventional Radiography Examination Content Specifications, board approved July 2022 and effective July 1, 2023. The scored questions break down into three official major content categories, expressed as question counts rather than percentages:

Procedures dominates the exam, and it divides further:

• Vascular Diagnostic Procedures: 41
• Vascular Interventional Procedures: 41
• Nonvascular Procedures: 30

For the complete walk-through, our RTVI exam domains guide goes category by category. Here is what the weighting means in practice.

One note on sources: the 2025 annual report introduction lists a July 2024 revision date for this material, but the dedicated specifications document and ARRT's issuer announcement establish July 1, 2023 as the effective date. Study from the specifications document itself, and download it directly from ARRT instead of relying on a secondhand summary.

Fees, Attempts and the Three-Year Clock

The initial application fee is $225. If you need to retake, the examination reapplication fee is $200. Our RTVI certification cost breakdown adds the surrounding expenses such as education hours, BLS and study materials.

You get three examination attempts within three years of the opening of your initial examination window. That framing matters. The clock starts when your window opens, not when you first sit for the exam, so a candidate who waits months before scheduling has already spent part of the three years. Check scheduling realities in our RTVI exam dates guide.

Reading the 2025 First-Time Result Honestly

According to the ARRT Annual Exam Report for 2025, 61.2% of first-time candidates passed in 2025, from a group of 454. That is a single-year figure from a modest sample, so interpret it carefully. It tells you that a meaningful share of prepared, experienced technologists did not pass on the first try, which is a reasonable signal to take the exam seriously. It does not tell you the exam is unfair or unpredictable. We discuss it further in our RTVI pass rate analysis and the broader difficulty guide.

A few reasonable inferences, without overreaching: candidates are already working technologists, so the exam is not testing basic familiarity. The breadth of Procedures content, spanning diagnostic, interventional and nonvascular work, is probably where gaps in daily experience show up. A technologist who spends most of their time on one procedure type may be underprepared for the others.

Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Blueprint

Because your 200 repetitions overlap with the exam's procedure categories, your clinical log is a useful diagnostic. If your logged cases cluster heavily in one category, that is where your confidence will be inflated and where your blind spots are likely in the other two. Use the log to decide where reading, not experience, has to carry you.

Here is one way to order a six-week plan against the blueprint. Adapt the length to your own schedule, and see our full RTVI study guide for deeper technique.

Procedures goes first and gets four of six weeks because it is 70% of the scored content and because it is the hardest to cram. Patient Care comes last because many technologists find it the most familiar from daily work, but leave time for it, since a refresher on contrast reactions and sterile technique is quick and worthwhile. A condensed review sheet is available in our RTVI cheat sheet.

When you are ready to test yourself under realistic conditions, use the timed questions on the RTVI practice test site, and use the results to decide which category needs another pass before exam day.

Keeping the Credential Active

Earning the credential is only the start. To stay certified and registered, you must:

• Renew annually, at $65 regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold
• Stay in compliance with ARRT ethics requirements
• Complete 24 approved continuing education credits per two-year biennium, which is per biennium and not per credential

Because the CE requirement is shared across credentials, holding both Radiography and VI does not double your CE burden, which makes postprimary credentials economical to maintain. Choose CE that reinforces interventional topics so that the credential's value stays current.

Credentials earned on or after January 1, 2011 also fall under Continuing Qualifications Requirements every 10 years. That involves a professional profile, a structured self-assessment and any prescribed CE. ARRT also lets you accept the maximum CQR CE prescription instead of taking the self-assessment, which gives you a choice between assessment and additional coursework.

For the career side of the decision, including how the credential is viewed by interventional suites and hospital imaging departments, see our guides on RTVI jobs, the RTVI salary guide and whether the certification is worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

The VI credential rewards technologists who combine real case experience with deliberate review of the blueprint. Verify your eligibility early, log your repetitions carefully, and let the 112-question weight of Procedures drive how you spend your preparation time. For more on how the credential is defined, see our overview of RTVI certification.