*This article references outdated documents and a closed survey. As such, we've removed these links. View our current discipline documents.

PROVIDE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE EXAMINATION CONTENT SPECIFICATIONS AND SUMMARY OF CLINICAL EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCE ASSESSMENTS

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) is looking for help from Registered Radiologist Assistants (R.R.A.s) and educators in R.R.A. programs. As an interested party, you are encouraged to review the proposed changes to the Examination Content Specifications and Summary of Clinical Experience and Competence Assessments.

Our goal is to produce comprehensive, accurate and fair documents that cover the knowledge and cognitive skills required of R.R.A.s. ARRT’s examinations are job-related. That is, we only include topics if knowledge of those topics relates directly to a clinical activity typically required in one’s job.

ARRT’s R.R.A. Job Analysis and CQR Advisory Committee (composed of subject matter experts from throughout the nation) began working on these documents in March 2016 and will complete its work on them later this year. After that, ARRT’s Board of Trustees will review the proposed changes. The revised Examination Content Specifications and Summary of Clinical Experience and Competence Assessments have an implementation date of July 1, 2018.

Proposed changes in the drafts are either underlined (additions) or lined out (deletions). Notable changes include the following:

EXAMINATION CONTENT SPECIFICATIONS

Proposed changes to the Examination Content Specifications include retitling the content categories and reorganizing them into three major sections: Patient Care, Safety, and Procedures. This change creates consistent category names across all ARRT disciplines.

Reorganization and renaming changes to the Examination Content Specifications

• Topics concerning ethics, legal considerations, and medical records (included in the deleted Medical-Legal, Professional and Governmental Standards section) have moved to the Patient Care section.
• Topics concerning pharmacology (included in the deleted Drugs and Contrast Materials section) were moved to the Patient Care section.
• Topics concerning quality improvement, data analysis, and clinical research and regulatory requirements (included in the deleted Medical-Legal, Professional and Governmental Standards section) have moved to the Safety section.
• Topics concerning image post processing (included in the Radiologic Procedures section) were moved to the Safety section.
• Topics concerning patient assessment and management (included in the Communication, Assessment and Management section) were moved to the Procedures section.
• Topics concerning anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology (included in the deleted Anatomy Physiology and Pathophysiology section) were moved to the Procedures section.

Examinations added to or removed from the Examination Content Specifications

• Percutaneous drainage, post operative GI study, and CT colonography were added to the list of gastrointestinal examinations in the Abdominal Procedures section. 
• Small bowel study via enteroclysis tube, and defecography were removed from the list of gastrointestinal examinations in the Abdominal Procedures section.
• Therapeutic bursa aspiration and/or injection, diagnostic joint aspiration, therapeutic joint injection, and MRI arthrogram were added to the list of musculoskeletal examinations in the Musculoskeletal and Endocrine Procedures section.
• Superficial lymph node biopsy was added to the list of vascular and lymphatic examinations in the Neurological, Vascular and Lymphatic Procedures section.

Topics removed from the Examination Content Specifications

• Topics regarding lidocaine were removed from the list of contrast media resuscitation drugs in the Patient Care section.
• Topics regarding pentobarbital and chloral hydrate were removed from the list of anesthetics in the Patient Care section.

Topics added to the Examination Content Specifications

• Topics regarding neurologic and psychotropic drugs were added to the list of general medications in the Patient Care section.
• Topics regarding proper fluoroscope use were added to the list of methods to reduce patient exposure in the Safety section. 
• Topics regarding MQSA were added to the list of regulations in the Safety section. 
• Topics regarding MRI safety were added in the Safety section. 
• Ileus and obstruction were added to the list of gastrointestinal pathophysiologies in the Abdominal Procedures section.
• Cholangitis was added to the list of hepatobiliary, pancreas, and spleen pathophysiologies in the Abdominal Procedures section.
• Nephrostomy tubes and ureteral stents were added to the list of urinary medical devices in the Abdominal Procedures section.
• Infertility was added to the list of reproductive pathophysiologies in the Abdominal Procedures section.
• Penile implants, pessary and IUD were added to the list of reproductive medical devices in the Abdominal Procedures section.
• BIRADS was added to the list of breast and axilla assessments in the Thoracic Procedures section.
• Breast implants were added to the list of breast and axilla medical devices in the Thoracic Procedures section.
• Orthopedic hardware was added to the list of musculoskeletal medical devices in the Musculoskeletal and Endocrine Procedures section.
• Septic arthritis and bursitis were added to the list of musculoskeletal pathophysiologies in the Musculoskeletal and Endocrine Procedures section.
• Inflammatory thyroid disorder was added to the list of endocrine pathophysiologies in the Musculoskeletal and Endocrine Procedures section.
• Aneurysm clips and coils were added to the list of neurological medical devices in the Neurological, Vascular and Lymphatic Procedures section.
• Chiari malformation and tethered cord were added to the list of neurological pathophysiologies in the Neurological, Vascular and Lymphatic Procedures section.
• Dissection, cat scratch disease, venous insufficiency, and deep vein thrombosis were added to the list of vascular and lymphatic pathophysiologies in the Neurological, Vascular and Lymphatic Procedures section.
• The wording on multiple topics was updated for clarification.

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCE ASSESSMENTS

Changes to the Clinical Experience and Competence Assessments include:

• Two procedures: Small bowel study via enteroclysis tube and defecography were removed from the list of elective clinical procedures.
• Seven procedures: CT colonography, post operative GI study, therapeutic bursa aspiration and/or injection, therapeutic join injection, diagnostic joint aspiration, percutaneous drainage with or without placement of catheter (excluding paracentesis and thoracentesis), and superficial lymph node biopsy were added to the list of elective clinical procedures.
• One procedure: Cervical, thoracic, or lumbar myelography – imaging only was moved from an elective to a mandatory procedure.
• Two procedures: lumbar puncture (which was mandatory) and lumbar puncture with contrast (which was elective) were combined into lumbar puncture with or without contrast, which is a mandatory procedure.
• The wording was updated for clarification on several procedures.
• The minimum and maximum number of required repetitions was adjusted for multiple procedures.

REVIEW THE DOCUMENTS AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK

Links to drafts of the proposed documents appear below. We invite you to review the documents and provide feedback via an important online survey (link deactivated after March 7, 2017). The survey is the official method by which we track feedback. Your comments will help us create policy changes that are fair, and in the best interests of the profession and patients.

• Proposed Examination Content Specifications [link deactivated]
• Proposed Clinical Experience and Competence Assessments [link deactivated]

Thank you for your contribution to this important project.