Who can sit the PET specialty exam, how it is structured, what each content area asks about, and how the seven-year credential is renewed.
Updated October 2026
| NMTCB PET | |
|---|---|
| Questions | 225: 200 scored + 25 unscored pretest items |
| Time | 3 hours 45 minutes |
| Format | Computer-based, four-option multiple choice, same length for every candidate |
| Test centers | IQT |
| Fee | $225 examination processing fee |
| Credential | The right to use “PET” after your name |
| Valid for | Seven years, renewed annually in between |
Source: NMTCB PET exam information. Check the board’s page before you apply — fees and policies change.
An active NMTCB CNMT, ARRT(N) or CAMRT(RTNM) certification, plus a minimum of 700 hours of clinical experience as a certified or registered nuclear medicine technologist on a dedicated PET, PET/MR or PET/CT scanner.
An active ARRT(R), ARRT(T), CAMRT(RT) or CAMRT(RTT) certification together with an active CT or MRI certification from a nationally recognized board. On top of that:
| Content area | Share | Of 200 scored |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic procedures | 35% | ~70 |
| Instrumentation and quality control | 30% | ~60 |
| Radiopharmaceuticals | 25% | ~50 |
| Radiation protection | 10% | ~20 |
FDG oncology imaging dominates: patient preparation (fasting, a blood glucose check before injection, limiting exercise and keeping the patient warm to reduce brown fat uptake), the uptake period, normal biodistribution in brain, myocardium and urinary tract, and the benign causes of uptake — infection, inflammation, muscle and brown fat — that mimic disease. Expect response assessment such as the Deauville scale in lymphoma, neurologic FDG patterns, cardiac PET perfusion and FDG viability, and the receptor-targeted studies: somatostatin receptor imaging with Ga-68 DOTATATE and PSMA imaging in prostate cancer.
Coincidence detection of the two 511 keV annihilation photons emitted roughly 180° apart, detector crystals, time-of-flight, and corrections for randoms, scatter and attenuation. CT-based attenuation correction and its artifacts — respiratory misregistration, metal, dense contrast and truncation — are reliable exam material, as is QC: daily detector checks, normalization, and cross-calibration between the scanner and the dose calibrator, which SUV accuracy depends on.
Half-lives and production routes: F-18 (about 110 minutes, cyclotron), C-11 (about 20 minutes), N-13 (about 10 minutes), O-15 (about 2 minutes), Ga-68 (about 68 minutes, from a Ge-68/Ga-68 generator) and Rb-82 (about 75 seconds, from a Sr-82/Rb-82 generator that needs strontium breakthrough testing). Know FDG’s mechanism — uptake by glucose transporters, phosphorylation by hexokinase and trapping as FDG-6-phosphate — and how the standardized uptake value is calculated.
511 keV photons penetrate far more than Tc-99m’s 140 keV, so time, distance and shielding change: thicker shielding, tungsten syringe shields, and treating the patient as a significant source throughout the uptake period. Expect dose limits, surveys, and the handling and transport rules that apply to positron emitters.
Content shares from NMTCB PET exam information. Topic notes are our own summary of the outline, not NMTCB wording.
The PET credential has to be renewed every year, and your primary certification must stay active alongside it. It is time limited: after seven years it expires unless you renew it by re-examination or by documenting 42 hours of PET-specific continuing education earned during that seven-year cycle. Both routes need an application and a fee, so track those hours from the start rather than reconstructing them in year seven.
200 NMTCB PET questions weighted 35/30/25/10 to the board’s outline, plus 34 PET case studies, each with a worked explanation. 25 questions are free, no card and no account.