Abstract
The American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers administers certification examinations in various specialty areas. To ensure that these examinations reflect clinical practice, the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers regularly surveys registered sonographers to determine current practice frequencies.
The Abdominal Exam Development Task Force recently conducted a task analysis survey of a random sample of 2500 registered diagnostic medical sonographers in the abdomen specialty. The abdominal examination content outline was revised to reflect changes in practice since the previous survey, which was conducted in 1987.
The most notable change is the widespread use of pulsed and color Doppler by sonographers. As a result, the examination content outline has a new section entitled “Abdominal Vasculature with Doppler.” In addition, Doppler examination items have been added to other sections of the examination. The new content outline, with the assigned percentages for each section of the examination, is included in this summary.