It’s not cheap, but I would do the weekend course that Edelman offers (used to offer?) I think it was like $600 and there’s an RVT session and an SPI session plus two very valuable books for studying.
I “studied” for my RVT for 8+ years before taking it. It was SO hard that I honestly thought that I failed so I just grabbed my results, stuffed them in my purse, and stormed out of the building. It wasn’t until a friend asked my score that I realized that I passed.
All this is to say that this exam is frickin rough so don’t beat yourself up about it. My friend is brilliant and failed 3 times before she passed. I did a combination of a few things, but Pegasus lectures has a great study course on it. I recorded my notes that I took and played them in the car while driving. I also did Ultrasound Registry Review and that was vital. All of this was expensive but I passed so there’s that. Good luck.
omg yes it is so expensive!! You’re so lucky you passed the first try! Yeah I bought the URR package for the first time I took it and I didn’t really like it for me, even their mock exam wasn’t close enough to the real one
30+ years experience here. Vascular dynamics can be difficult to understand for many. Try CCI next time. It incorporates physics into the exam. I am multi modality, including xray, CT, interventional(angio/special procedures)and Mammography. Ultrasound experience with registries in Vascular, echo, abdomen/small parts, OB and MSK(retired very early). ARDMS, in my opinion, sets one up to fail. Their questions are tricky and most don't apply to real world scanning.
Anywho.....Gulfcoast Ultrasound has some of the best Ultrasound study material that I've ever used. Ultrasound Registry Review is also amazing. I know I'm a minority with this opinion but Edelman helped me with NOTHING. Good luck with future endeavors. Don't give up. It will "click " soon. Also join Sonographers for it in the dark on Facebook. Lots of info offered there.
yes!! I thought taking it for my second time I would pass because I was familiar with how the questions were the first time around but it just ended up even more difficult! Any thoughts on SDMS? I’ve heard their material is helpful as well
SDMS has some great material. I am just a huge fan of Gulfcoast Ultrasound after using their material for every ultrasound registry I've taken. And honestly, I found vascular the easiest after their course.
Hi! Didn’t want to crash this post but I saw you are familiar with gulf coast. I’m getting ready to take my pediatrics board in April and the study resources are limited. I already did the Edelman conference and have the book to start studying but I was wondering if gulf coast was a solid resource to help pass boards? I haven’t been able to find much, if any feedbacks and their registry review for peds is close to $400 so would love some feedbacks before buying!
I have found that every course they offer is well worth it. I know many physicians that have also taken their courses, although mostly in person courses, and have also raved about how well organized and informative they are. I highly recommend Gulf Coast Ultrasound. I have never found Edelman helpful for me though.
Thank you very much! This is only the 3rd board I’m taking after spi and abdomen and I heavily relied on urr and penny for those 2, passed on first try each time and loved them both but none of them have anything regarding peds! I guess I’ll empty my bank account a bit and give a try to gulf coast! Appreciate the feed back!
That RVT test is a DEMON. Took me 3 tries! I don't have much advice, I believe I used URR once and didn't care for it. The ESP course /workbook was what helped me the most. I wrote my own study notes from the book/course and studied them daily. I did my best to study as much as I could but there were some days that I only did 30 min. I think I read the workbook 3 times from front to back and read my textbook from Pellerito once.
I've heard many ppl say it took them a couple times to pass.
I also got this app called study buddy (or study bunny ?) And it helped track my studying which really helped put into perspective how much I actually studied for the test .
Sending u good vibes !
Urgh I’m hoping I will pass on my 3rd try!! I’m so jealous of anyone that passed on the first try. It made me feel like I wasn’t smart enough 😔 I’m going to look into ESP, I think I should get rid of my Davies materials lolll it didnt help me as much as I expected
I just took it on Tuesday and passed my first time. I had barely any knowledge of vascular beforehand and I started studying two weeks before I took it: I used the Davies prep book and the Davies flash card book. I also had someone’s quizlet which was 314 terms/questions. The way I study is this -
1. Dedicate every free moment to studying. I have a 7yo son who went to my mom’s for almost a whole week.
2. Read the entire textbook front to back. Highlight.
3. Reread your highlighted text, front to back.
4. Answer the questions in the back of the book. If you don’t know a term, whether it be in the question or an answer (even if it’s the wrong answer), make a quizlet of it.
5. Practice the questions in the Davies flash card book. Again, any term you don’t know put in a quizlet.
6. Study quizlet.
I do this every exam I take…I’ve passed RDMS, RDCS, and RVT. I got a 686/700 on my SPI, and over 600s on the rest. I’m also a really good test taker, I don’t get anxiety and I’m logical about problem solving. If I get overwhelmed I take some deep breaths and take a minute to chill out a little bit.
When I took mine this time around, there were a lot of questions on Plethysmography, PVR, ABIs, PRF and what adjustments need to be made for aliasing, and before and after flow (waveforms) of stenoses and occlusions in both arterial and venous systems. Know what each waveform should look like (phasic or not). Know that blue toe is caused by AAA, thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s Disease) has to do with blood clots in the small arteries of the peripherals and most common in male, heavy smokers. Know that Paget-Schroetter is the venous portion of thoracic outlet syndrome and that it is compressed by the clavicle and first rib. Know May-Thurner syndrome and Nutcracker syndrome. Know that postprandial flow through the celiac artery will remain unchanged. Know TIPS and normal velocities through the stent and portal vein. Know normal and abnormal velocities in every major artery. There wasn’t too much cerebral stuff on there, but there were some symptom questions. You should know that MCA has to do with arms and ACA has to do with legs. Know that MCA/ACA occlusion affect the contralateral limb. Know the 5 d’s of vertebrobasilar occlusion. Understand subclavian steal. Know that the ophthalmic artery arises from the ICA and ICA issues will affect the ipsilateral eye. Know the general layout of the Circle of Willis. There were a couple of questions about carotid body tumors. Know your bypass grafts and normal associated velocities. Know all the types of endografts (Types I-V). As far as the venous system goes, I would know the diseases, and understand the stress test and tourniquet test to evaluation venous valvular insufficiency. Remember that over 20s is a normal venous filling time. I would also know the different symptoms associated with arterial/venous disease of the legs. Venous issues will cause rubor, while arterial disease will cause pallor. Look up images of these of the legs, plus images of legs with DVT.
Sorry to ramble - I know you’ve taken it twice so you know some of the things on there. For me, it’s most important to understand concepts. Especially for this exam. It’s all about blood flow and how the lack of it or too much of it can affect all parts of the body.
You got this, stuff your face in a book for two weeks straight, eat drink and sleep vascular. GOOD LUCK!
Edelman was key for me to pass my vascular. I used Davies too but it wasn’t enough. You can always try the CCI RVS.
yeah I’m starting to regret that I mainly studied only Davies 😔 I should’ve tried Edelman! A coworker also suggested SDMS to me
It’s not cheap, but I would do the weekend course that Edelman offers (used to offer?) I think it was like $600 and there’s an RVT session and an SPI session plus two very valuable books for studying.
I’m thinking of looking into Edelman, but I would just hate to have to retake the SPI all over again
I “studied” for my RVT for 8+ years before taking it. It was SO hard that I honestly thought that I failed so I just grabbed my results, stuffed them in my purse, and stormed out of the building. It wasn’t until a friend asked my score that I realized that I passed. All this is to say that this exam is frickin rough so don’t beat yourself up about it. My friend is brilliant and failed 3 times before she passed. I did a combination of a few things, but Pegasus lectures has a great study course on it. I recorded my notes that I took and played them in the car while driving. I also did Ultrasound Registry Review and that was vital. All of this was expensive but I passed so there’s that. Good luck.
omg yes it is so expensive!! You’re so lucky you passed the first try! Yeah I bought the URR package for the first time I took it and I didn’t really like it for me, even their mock exam wasn’t close enough to the real one
30+ years experience here. Vascular dynamics can be difficult to understand for many. Try CCI next time. It incorporates physics into the exam. I am multi modality, including xray, CT, interventional(angio/special procedures)and Mammography. Ultrasound experience with registries in Vascular, echo, abdomen/small parts, OB and MSK(retired very early). ARDMS, in my opinion, sets one up to fail. Their questions are tricky and most don't apply to real world scanning. Anywho.....Gulfcoast Ultrasound has some of the best Ultrasound study material that I've ever used. Ultrasound Registry Review is also amazing. I know I'm a minority with this opinion but Edelman helped me with NOTHING. Good luck with future endeavors. Don't give up. It will "click " soon. Also join Sonographers for it in the dark on Facebook. Lots of info offered there.
yes!! I thought taking it for my second time I would pass because I was familiar with how the questions were the first time around but it just ended up even more difficult! Any thoughts on SDMS? I’ve heard their material is helpful as well
SDMS has some great material. I am just a huge fan of Gulfcoast Ultrasound after using their material for every ultrasound registry I've taken. And honestly, I found vascular the easiest after their course.
Thank you! I’ve never heard of gulf coast ultrasound!
Hi! Didn’t want to crash this post but I saw you are familiar with gulf coast. I’m getting ready to take my pediatrics board in April and the study resources are limited. I already did the Edelman conference and have the book to start studying but I was wondering if gulf coast was a solid resource to help pass boards? I haven’t been able to find much, if any feedbacks and their registry review for peds is close to $400 so would love some feedbacks before buying!
I have found that every course they offer is well worth it. I know many physicians that have also taken their courses, although mostly in person courses, and have also raved about how well organized and informative they are. I highly recommend Gulf Coast Ultrasound. I have never found Edelman helpful for me though.
Thank you very much! This is only the 3rd board I’m taking after spi and abdomen and I heavily relied on urr and penny for those 2, passed on first try each time and loved them both but none of them have anything regarding peds! I guess I’ll empty my bank account a bit and give a try to gulf coast! Appreciate the feed back!
That RVT test is a DEMON. Took me 3 tries! I don't have much advice, I believe I used URR once and didn't care for it. The ESP course /workbook was what helped me the most. I wrote my own study notes from the book/course and studied them daily. I did my best to study as much as I could but there were some days that I only did 30 min. I think I read the workbook 3 times from front to back and read my textbook from Pellerito once. I've heard many ppl say it took them a couple times to pass. I also got this app called study buddy (or study bunny ?) And it helped track my studying which really helped put into perspective how much I actually studied for the test . Sending u good vibes !
Urgh I’m hoping I will pass on my 3rd try!! I’m so jealous of anyone that passed on the first try. It made me feel like I wasn’t smart enough 😔 I’m going to look into ESP, I think I should get rid of my Davies materials lolll it didnt help me as much as I expected
I just took it on Tuesday and passed my first time. I had barely any knowledge of vascular beforehand and I started studying two weeks before I took it: I used the Davies prep book and the Davies flash card book. I also had someone’s quizlet which was 314 terms/questions. The way I study is this - 1. Dedicate every free moment to studying. I have a 7yo son who went to my mom’s for almost a whole week. 2. Read the entire textbook front to back. Highlight. 3. Reread your highlighted text, front to back. 4. Answer the questions in the back of the book. If you don’t know a term, whether it be in the question or an answer (even if it’s the wrong answer), make a quizlet of it. 5. Practice the questions in the Davies flash card book. Again, any term you don’t know put in a quizlet. 6. Study quizlet. I do this every exam I take…I’ve passed RDMS, RDCS, and RVT. I got a 686/700 on my SPI, and over 600s on the rest. I’m also a really good test taker, I don’t get anxiety and I’m logical about problem solving. If I get overwhelmed I take some deep breaths and take a minute to chill out a little bit. When I took mine this time around, there were a lot of questions on Plethysmography, PVR, ABIs, PRF and what adjustments need to be made for aliasing, and before and after flow (waveforms) of stenoses and occlusions in both arterial and venous systems. Know what each waveform should look like (phasic or not). Know that blue toe is caused by AAA, thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s Disease) has to do with blood clots in the small arteries of the peripherals and most common in male, heavy smokers. Know that Paget-Schroetter is the venous portion of thoracic outlet syndrome and that it is compressed by the clavicle and first rib. Know May-Thurner syndrome and Nutcracker syndrome. Know that postprandial flow through the celiac artery will remain unchanged. Know TIPS and normal velocities through the stent and portal vein. Know normal and abnormal velocities in every major artery. There wasn’t too much cerebral stuff on there, but there were some symptom questions. You should know that MCA has to do with arms and ACA has to do with legs. Know that MCA/ACA occlusion affect the contralateral limb. Know the 5 d’s of vertebrobasilar occlusion. Understand subclavian steal. Know that the ophthalmic artery arises from the ICA and ICA issues will affect the ipsilateral eye. Know the general layout of the Circle of Willis. There were a couple of questions about carotid body tumors. Know your bypass grafts and normal associated velocities. Know all the types of endografts (Types I-V). As far as the venous system goes, I would know the diseases, and understand the stress test and tourniquet test to evaluation venous valvular insufficiency. Remember that over 20s is a normal venous filling time. I would also know the different symptoms associated with arterial/venous disease of the legs. Venous issues will cause rubor, while arterial disease will cause pallor. Look up images of these of the legs, plus images of legs with DVT. Sorry to ramble - I know you’ve taken it twice so you know some of the things on there. For me, it’s most important to understand concepts. Especially for this exam. It’s all about blood flow and how the lack of it or too much of it can affect all parts of the body. You got this, stuff your face in a book for two weeks straight, eat drink and sleep vascular. GOOD LUCK!
Thank you sooo much!! You are fabulously amazing!! : )
which edition Davies did you use?