Frequently Asked Questions

The NMTCB develops items for the NCT exam utilizing the content outline, which is posted here, and commonly available nuclear medicine and cardiology texts. Officially, the Board does not make recommendations about specific study guides or materials but rather suggests the candidate review the content outline, identify areas of potential weakness and then study that information using available texts.

A candidate for examination must show documented evidence of the following:

1. Active NMTCB, ARRT(N), or CAMRT(RTNM) certification -and-
2. A minimum of 700 hours of clinical experience as a certified/registered nuclear medicine technologist on a dedicated PET scanner or PET/CT scanner

Active CAMRT(RT), CAMRT(RTT), ARRT(R) or ARRT(T) Certificants must fulfill all three requirements below:

1. Active CAMRT(RT), CAMRT(RTT), ARRT(R) or ARRT(T) certification.
2. 700 hours of documented clinical experience performing all aspects of PET imaging including radiopharmaceutical handling, injection (if permitted by state and/or institutional regulations) and imaging. Imaging may be performed on a PET and/or a PET/CT scanner. Supervision must be performed by a nuclear medicine physician or radiologist AND direct supervision must be performed by a certified NMTCB, ARRT(N) or CAMRT(RTNM) nuclear medicine technologist.
3. Satisfactory completion of a minimum of fifteen (15) contact hours of coursework in each of the following areas: radiopharmacy, nuclear medicine instrumentation and radiation safety. Only coursework from an accredited college or university, accredited nuclear medicine program or approved continuing education credits recognized by NMTCB, such as VOICE/ECE, will be accepted. You may find courses to satisfy the 45 hour coursework requirement here.

You may read more about the exam and you may apply here.

The PET exam and the NCT exam are "specialty certifications" intended to describe the successful candidate as having demonstrated expertise in the respective field. In the past, a specialty certificant needed to successfully sit for their respective specialty examination again in order to become recertified after 7 years. NMTCB’s specialty recertification policy has now been revised to allow NCT and PET certificants the option to recertify by obtaining and documenting specialty-specific continuing education activities in order to demonstrate their continued accumulation of knowledge about the specialty field. As specialty certificants approach the end of seven years and need to recertify, they will have the option to recertify through EITHER: (1) re-examination OR (2) by displaying 42 hours of specialty-specific continuing education (the equivalent of 6 hours of CE per year of certification).

The eligibility requirements for the NCT Specialty Exam are:

1. Active NMTCB, ARRT(N), or CAMRT nuclear medicine certification
2. A minimum 700 hours of documented clinical experience as a certified/registered nuclear medicine technologist performing all aspects of nuclear cardiology imaging including radiopharmaceutical handling, injection if permitted by state and/or institutional regulations) and imaging. Supervision must be performed by a board certified cardiologist, nuclear medicine physician or radiologist OR direct supervision must be performed by a certified NMTCB, ARRT(N) or CAMRT nuclear medicine technologist.
3. Previous NCT certificant holders with current nuclear medicine certification are eligible to take the NCT examination.

You may read more about the exam and you may apply here.

The NMTCB develops items for the PET and NCT exams utilizing the specialty exam content outline, which are posted here, and commonly available nuclear medicine, nuclear cardiology, and PET texts. Officially, the Board does not make recommendations about specific study guides or materials but rather suggests the candidate review the content outline, identify areas of potential weakness and then study that information using available texts.