What Is RTVI Certification?

What the RTVI Credential Actually Is

RTVI is the shorthand this site uses for Registered Technologist - Vascular-Interventional Radiography. It is a postprimary credential: a specialty certification that a radiologic technologist earns after already holding a primary pathway credential. The issuer is the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), and the official ARRT discipline name is Vascular Interventional Radiography, abbreviated VI. "RTVI" is simply the abbreviation used on this site, not ARRT's own designation.

That distinction matters because several unrelated credentials in healthcare and other industries share similar letters. This credential has nothing to do with them. It is also a different certification from Cardiac Interventional Radiography, Vascular Sonography, or the CCI RCIS credential, even though those fields sit nearby in the cath lab and angiography suite. If you want the short-form definitions, our pages on what RTVI is and what RTVI stands for cover the naming in more detail.

Who Issues It and How the Exam Is Delivered

ARRT sets the eligibility rules, writes the content specifications, scores the exam, and grants the credential. Testing itself is delivered at Pearson VUE test centers, so you will sit the exam in a proctored computer-based environment rather than at home.

The fee structure is straightforward:

• Initial application: $225 USD
• Examination reapplication: $200 USD, if you need to retake
• Annual renewal: $65 regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold

For a fuller breakdown of what a realistic total looks like once education, logbook time and renewal are factored in, see our guide to RTVI certification cost.

Eligibility: Three Layers You Must Clear

ARRT's postprimary pathway has three layers: a credential layer, an education layer, and a clinical layer. You must satisfy all three before you are approved to test. The complete walkthrough is on our RTVI requirements page, but here is the structure.

Layer 1: Current ARRT certification and ethics compliance

You must hold current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography and be in compliance with ARRT's ethics requirements. One detail trips people up: Nuclear Medicine Technology or Radiation Therapy alone is not a supporting credential for VI. If your primary ARRT credential is in one of those disciplines and you do not also hold Radiography, you do not meet this layer.

Layer 2: Structured education

Candidates need 16 hours of structured education completed within the 24 months before applying, with at least one credit in each major content category of the exam. That last clause is easy to overlook. Sixteen hours concentrated entirely in procedures will not satisfy the rule; the coursework has to touch Patient Care, Image Production and Procedures.

Layer 3: Clinical experience

This is the layer that takes the most planning, and it gets its own section below.

The 200-Procedure Clinical Experience Requirement

The clinical requirement is where this credential separates itself from a pure classroom certification. Candidates must document at least 200 verified procedure repetitions within the 24-month eligibility window. The minimums are split by category:

Rules that shape how you log

• Record 5-10 repetitions per selected procedure, so your logbook shows breadth rather than one procedure repeated endlessly.
• Log no more than 10 procedures per day.
• You must be physically present in an active primary scrub or circulating role throughout the procedure. Observation alone does not qualify.
• You need current BLS certification from an ARRT-recognized provider.

Verification

A qualified ARRT-certified and registered technologist, supervisor or interpreting physician must verify the experience. For postprimary credentials, the verifier does not need to have directly observed the work and may verify remotely. That flexibility helps technologists who rotate across sites, but it does not change the underlying requirement that you were hands-on.

Exam Format and Scoring Mechanics

The exam is computer-based and closed book. Here is how the numbers break down:

Question styles

Most items are single-best-answer multiple choice. ARRT's materials also indicate that alternative item formats and image-based questions may appear, and the postprimary handbook describes multiple-response and ordered-response formats as well. Because the exam covers angiographic and fluoroscopic imaging, expect to interpret images rather than only recall text.

Test-day rules worth knowing

• You must answer each item before advancing, but you can flag and revisit questions.
• Basic and scientific on-screen calculators are available. Pearson can supply a basic four-function calculator on request. Personal calculators are prohibited.
• The 50 pilot questions are indistinguishable from scored ones, so treat every item as if it counts.

What "75" really means

The passing score is 75 on ARRT's 1-99 scaled-score range. It is not 75% correct. Scaled scoring adjusts for the difficulty of the specific question set you received, so a raw count of correct answers does not translate directly. Our explainer on the RTVI passing score unpacks the scaling in more depth. If you do not pass, you have three examination attempts within three years of the opening of your initial examination window, which is why scheduling matters; see RTVI exam dates for how windows work.

What the Exam Covers: Three Major Content Categories

The controlling source is the Vascular Interventional Radiography Examination Content Specifications (board approved July 2022, effective July 1, 2023). It divides the 160 scored questions into three major categories. ARRT publishes these as counts, so we keep them as counts here rather than inventing percentages. For a deeper dive, read our complete guide to the RTVI exam domains.

Reading the weighting honestly

Procedures accounts for 112 of 160 scored questions. That means roughly the bulk of your result depends on how well you know the procedures themselves: indications, anatomy, devices, steps, complications and the technologist's role in each. Patient Care and Image Production are smaller, but they are not throwaway; with 48 questions between them, a weak showing there can still pull a borderline Procedures score under the line.

One source note: the 2025 ARRT annual report introduction lists a July 2024 revision date, but the dedicated content specifications and ARRT's own announcement establish July 1, 2023 as the effective date. This article follows the dedicated specifications.

What the Pass Data Does and Does Not Tell You

ARRT's Annual Exam Report for 2025 lists a 61.2% first-time pass rate for first-time candidates in 2025, based on 454 candidates. Two cautions apply. First, that is a single year and a modest candidate pool, so small shifts in who tested can move the number. Second, first-time candidates here are already experienced technologists who have logged 200 procedures, so the figure reflects a self-selected, clinically seasoned group rather than the general population of students. It suggests the exam is a real hurdle, not a formality. For a fuller reading of the data, see our RTVI pass rate analysis and our take on how hard the RTVI exam is.

Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Blueprint

You do not need a generic study system; you need one that mirrors the weighting. Because Procedures dominates, it deserves most of your calendar, but the smaller domains are the fastest points to lock in. A reasonable sequence for a technologist already logging cases looks like this:

That ordering puts the smaller, more learnable domains first and saves the heavy Procedures work for the middle of the plan, with a final stretch for mixed review. For resource suggestions and a fuller plan, see the RTVI study guide, the RTVI cheat sheet, and our overview of RTVI training. When you are ready to test yourself, work through realistic questions on the RTVI practice test site.

Keeping the Credential Active

Earning the credential is not the end of the paperwork. Maintenance has three parts:

1. Annual renewal at $65, which stays the same no matter how many ARRT credentials you hold.
2. Continuing education: 24 approved CE credits per two-year biennium. This is per biennium, not per credential, so holding both Radiography and VI does not double your CE load.
3. Ethics compliance on a continuing basis.

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

Where the Credential Fits Professionally

The credential is aimed at technologists working in interventional radiology suites and angiography labs: hospital vascular and interventional departments, outpatient and office-based vascular labs, and imaging centers that perform image-guided procedures. Employers value it as external proof that a technologist has done a documented volume of scrub and circulator work across diagnostic, interventional and nonvascular cases, not just completed coursework.

We deliberately avoid quoting pay figures here, because they vary by region, facility type and experience. If you are weighing the career side, our guides on RTVI salary, RTVI jobs and whether the certification is worth it walk through those questions in detail. If you want a single landing page for the credential itself, see RTVI certification.

Frequently Asked Questions