PARCA - PACS Administrators Registry and Certification Association

Checkout

Home About Us Membership Certification Resources Sponsors Merchandise Contact Us

CPAS CPIA CPSA Exams

A summary of the entry requirements for taking the two qualification exams that are needed as a prerequisite for the PARCA CPIA and CPSA certifications are listed here. The focus of one is general technical understanding, and the focus of the other is general clinical understanding. Click here to take an exam.

Click here for a detailed list of requirements.

Summary of Requirements

Technical Understanding Requirements:
1. Computer basics:
  1.1    Hardware
  1.2    Software
  1.3    CPU
  1.4    Memory
  1.5    Disk technology
  1.6    IP / MAC Addresses
  1.7    Exchange media
2. Operating system basics
  2.1    Unix
  2.2    Windows
  2.3    DOS prompts
3. Database basics
  3.1 Hierarchical, relational, object databases
  3.2 Basic SQL knowledge
4. Data representations:
  4.1    Binary data format
  4.2    Bits, bytes
  4.3    Hexadecimal
  4.4    Signed/unsigned data
  4.5    Floating point
  4.6    Monochrome, RGB
5. Networking technology:
  5.1    WAN/LAN, T1, ISDN, DSL
  5.2    Internet (http, url, domains)
  5.3    ISO model
  5.4    Ethernet, TCP/IP
  5.5    Packet switching, circuit switching
  5.6    Throughput, bandwidth, level of service parameters
6. Basic Security Concepts:
  6.1    System security in general
  6.2    Authentication
  6.3    Authorization
  6.4    Confidentiality
  6.5    Integrity
Clinical Understanding Requirements:
1. Basic medical terminology
2. Basic human anatomy
3. Radiology Imaging basics:
  3.1    Principles of different modalities (CR, DR, XR, XA, RF, US, MR, NM, CT)
  3.2    Basic operational procedural knowledge of computer radiology equipment
  3.3    Image characteristics for each modality
  3.4    Positioning and viewing techniques and terminology
  3.5    QA / QC
  3.6    Collimation versus shuttering
4. Typical process flow ("Completing the exam cycle"):
  4.1    Physician order
  4.2    Performance of exam
  4.3    Results reporting (dictation & speech recognition)
  4.4    Remote system access for image viewing
5. How to handle prior exams & outside exams:
  5.1 Film & digitization
  5.2 Import CD's