CRES Study Guide and Practice Tests

The exam at a glance

This course

How the course works

1. Cheat sheet. Everything the exam expects you to recall cold, printable.
2. Starter test. A few questions per exam domain, with a confidence rating on each.
3. Your tutorial. Lessons chosen from what you missed or guessed, each with a checkpoint and a deeper explanation.
4. Practice tests and retraining. 50 questions, weighted like the real exam. Every miss is explained and feeds back into your lessons.
5. 3 of your last 5 at 80%. That unlocks one full-length test on the real exam's clock: 165 questions in 180 minutes, at its real passing score of 70%. Pass it once and you are ready to book.

Read the first 15 lessons here

1. Body Organization, Planes, Habitus, and Positional Terminology 9 min
2. Chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis on the Image: Heart, Lungs, Liver, GI and Urinary Tracts 10 min
3. Skeleton, Spine, Skull, and Joints, with the Brain, Nervous, and Endocrine Systems 10 min
4. Positioning by Exam: Projections, Topographical Landmarks, and Reading the Requisition 10 min
5. Electrical and Mechanical Safety in the Imaging Suite, Patient Transfer and Moving 10 min
6. How Radiation Harms: Ionization, Dose Quantities and Units, Occupational and Public Limits 11 min
7. Time, Distance, Shielding, the Inverse Square Law, and ALARA in Practice 10 min
8. Protective Apparel, Barriers, and Shields, and How They Are Tested 9 min
9. The MRI Environment and Electromagnetic Interference: Zones, Projectiles, Quench, RF Heating 10 min
10. Who Regulates Imaging: FDA and 21 CFR 1020, State Radiation Control, and CMS 10 min
11. Mammography under MQSA and ACR Accreditation 10 min
12. The Joint Commission, OSHA, ANSI/AAMI Standards, and the Radiation Safety Committee 10 min
13. The CMMS: Service History, Recalls, and Compliance and Performance Reports 9 min
14. Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Power: Ohm's Law, Series and Parallel 10 min
15. Components in a Circuit: Passive, Active, Rectifiers, and Reading the Schematic 10 min

Every lesson, by unit

Flashcards

423 cards from the cheat sheet and glossary: 146 Acronyms; 15 The exam itself; 22 Anatomy, positioning, and terminology; 29 Radiation: quantities, limits, and protection; 18 Regulators, standards, and what each asks for; 43 Electricity, electronics, and imaging power; 33 X-ray production, tubes, and generators; 37 Receptors, fluoroscopy, mammography, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI; 33 PM, QC, and test equipment; 20 Troubleshooting imaging systems; 27 Imaging informatics. Flip, shuffle, mark what you know.

Drill the flashcards

Questions people ask

How many questions are on the CRES exam?

165 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, closed book, with an on-screen calculator and notepad. ACI sets the cut score with a criterion-referenced method and does not publish it; this course's official-format test uses 70%.

When is the CRES offered?

Twice a year, May 1 to 15 and November 1 to 15, at Kryterion computer-based test centers. Applications open about three months before each window.

Who is eligible for the CRES?

Full certification needs an associate degree in electronics, technology, or science plus two years of full-time BMET work, or a US military biomed program plus two years, or four years of full-time work alone, and at least 40 percent of that work in radiology over the last two years with 25 percent over the last five. Candidate status is open with the degree, the military program, or two years of work alone.

How much does the CRES cost?

In 2026 the exam is $410 for AAMI members and $460 for non-members; a retake is $355 or $405. In 2027 the fees rise to $425 and $480. Certification is renewed every three years with continuing education.

How many practice tests should I take?

This course asks for three of your last five fifty-question practice tests at 80% or better, then one full-length test in the real exam's format at the real passing score.

Is the course free?

Yes. The lessons, the cheat sheet, and unlimited practice tests are free while the site launches.

What is on the Certified Radiology Equipment Specialist CRES exam?

Anatomy and Physiology (7%), Public Safety in the Healthcare Facility (8%), Fundamentals of Electricity and Electronics (10%), Healthcare Technology and Function (25%), Healthcare Technology Problem Solving (25%), Healthcare Information Technology (25%). The course's units follow the same domains, and the practice tests draw on the same domain weights.