Frequently Asked Questions

All eligibility standards required to sit for the entry-level examination must be completed within the 5 year period immediately after the candidate’s program completion. A candidate must show documented evidence of having completed ONE of the following in the previous five years:

Completion of a NMTCB recognized nuclear medicine technology program (https://www.nmtcb.org/exams/nuclear-medicine/schools)

Completion of an accredited nuclear medicine technology program culminating in a Certificate, Associate, Baccalaureate, or Master's degree. Educational programs must have structured clinical training sufficient to provide clinical competency in radiation safety, instrumentation, clinical procedures, and radiopharmacy.

The NMTCB currently recognizes the following organizations responsible for programmatic oversight:

Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology (JRCNMT)
Armed Forces Military Training Commands
Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT)
Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM)

A replacement certificate may be ordered from our online marketplace at https://nmtcb.myshopify.com/.
Once you log in and choose your method of payment, scroll to the bottom of the page to find replacement certificate order information.

A replacement certification card may be ordered from our online marketplace at https://nmtcb.myshopify.com/.
Once you log in and choose your method of payment, scroll to the bottom of the page to find replacement certification card order information.

The mandatory Continuing Education Policy began on January 1, 2006 and mandates that the certificant's first CE cycle begins the month that the certificant first passes the entry-level examination.

New graduates will start acquiring CEHs immediately after passing the NMTCB exam.
This table has been established to pro-rate the number of CEHs new graduates will be required to obtain.

NMTCB Exam Month	CEH required in Exam year	Add 12 CEHs for first full calendar year after exam year.	Birth Month	CEH required before 1st day of birth month
January	12	12	January	0
February	11	12	February	1
March	10	12	March	2
April	09	12	April	3
May	08	12	May	4
June	07	12	June	5
July	06	12	July	6
August	05	12	August	7
September	04	12	September	8
October	03	12	October	9
November	02	12	November	10
December	01	12	December	11

For example, if you passed the exam in June 2021, you will be required to obtain the 7 continuing education hours for 2021, 12 CE hours for 2022, and then one additional CE hour for each month up until the first day of your birth month.

After the first prorated CE cycle, the new certificant is required to obtain 24 hours of continuing education in future 2- year CE cycles, each beginning on the first day of the birth month and ending 24 months later on the last day of the month immediately preceding the birth month.

CE activities can be completed at any time during that particular cycle. Excess CE credits (more than the number of hours required for that current CE cycle) may not be carried over into the next CE cycle.

In order to make a name change, please send by mail, fax or as a scanned attachment to an email, a legible copy of a document that shows your new name. This may be a court order, a marriage certificate, a divorce decree, a driver's license, a passport, or any other document that clearly shows the new name. Please include the old name and certification number with the copy of the document. If using a driver's license, please zoom the copy several times and make sure it is legible, especially if sending by fax as these are very difficult to read and if we cannot read it, the name change will be delayed.

Active status means that all requirements for certification renewal have been met and the certificant is fully considered certified through the date listed.

Incomplete means that the renewal process has been attempted but one or more of the requirements for renewal have not been met.

The requirements for renewal include:

1. All four of the ethics questions are clearly answered.
2. Documentation for all "Yes" answers to the ethics questions has been submitted.
3. The CE question has been answered.
4. The renewal form has been signed and dated.
5. The form has been received
6. Proper payment has been received.

By far, the most common reason for Incomplete status is that the renewal application is missing the signature. In these cases, we send the form back to the certificant by USPS for signature and it may be returned to us by USPS, fax or as a scanned attachment to an email.

We utilize a separate numbering system for those who apply to take one of our Specialty exam. S-xxxxx was assigned to you when you applied to take the NCT or PET specialty exam. Separate numbers are issued because it is possible to maintain one certification without renewing the other. Either number may be used to identify yourself when communicating with the office staff or logging into the website.

Yes, each Certificant will be given a "ONE-TIME" option to change his or her CE cycle. All certificants for whom the NMTCB has a birth date on file have a CE Cycle that ends on the last day of the month immediately prior to the certificant's birth month. If the NMTCB does not have a certificant's birth month on record (generally this includes certificants who have held certification for 15 years or more), the certificant was assigned a December birth month. Please make sure the NMTCB has your correct birthdate.Click on NMTCB CE Cycle Change Request Form to change your CE cycle.

Certification demonstrates mastery of a body of knowledge. That body of knowledge includes the concepts that allow technologist to evaluate, adapt and identify problems, and solve them. Obtaining your certification is the final step to becoming a nuclear medicine technologist who is recognized as having the knowledge necessary to perform all routine tasks and patient care in the nuclear medicine department with insight and understanding. NMTCB’s nuclear medicine certification exam is written by experts in the field for that specific purpose. NMTCB’s entry level examination is a national standard recognized by the States, employers, insurance companies, those agencies that certify advanced medical imaging services (such as the IAC, ACR and The Joint Commission), professional organizations, and others as a valid, high-quality certification exam. Many states already require certification and/or licensure for nuclear medicine technologists. In many other states certification is optional, but it is likely that certification will eventually become mandatory. Employment opportunities as a technologist may be jeopardized by not obtaining and maintaining Active certification status.

A NMTCB certified technologist must do three things in order to maintain an active certification once they have passed the examination:
(1) Complete an annual renewal statement that includes answering required ethics questions.
(2) Comply with the NMTCB Continuing Competence policy, including by not limited to, obtaining 24 hours of acceptable Continuing Education credits every two years.
(3) Pay an Annual Renewal Fee.

NMTCB offers multiple professional certification programs for technologists to enter and advance in the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging profession. Individuals who successfully pass the NMTCB’s certification examination and maintain an active certification may use the abbreviations below to indicate their specific credential(s):

CNMT - Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist Certification
NMTCB(CT) – Computed Tomography Certification
NMTCB(RS) – Radiation Safety Certification
NCT – Nuclear Cardiology Technologist Certification
PET – Positron Emission Technology Certification
NMAA – Nuclear Medicine Advanced Associate Certification