As of January 1, 2004 Diplomates of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry must document 50 contact hours of continuing education (CE) credit every two years in order to maintain listing in the directory of active Diplomates. The following describes in more detail the requirements for continuing education. Documentation of CE may be done online. Complete Form
Overview
Continuing education requirements will consist of 2 categories:
Category 1: Documented CE – 30 hours minimum (Traditional CE from an accredited provider). Category 1 CE will consist of those activities that are accepted by approved providers of continuing education as described in section B.
Category 2: Self reported CE – 20 hours maximum (CE obtained from professional activities). Category 2 CE will consist of the following:
- Non-accredited seminars
- Teaching
- Publications (papers, books, abstracts)
- Exhibits
Category 1 Details
Documented CE
For category 1 CE the Board accepts education activities that are Category 1 approved by any of the providers listed below as well as education activities provided by state laboratory agencies in the U.S. Routine professional activities do not satisfy category 1, but may satisfy category 2 CE requirements.
Approved Providers
Satisfactory category 1 CE credits must be from a recognized provider of CE. Examples of CE providers and accreditation acceptable to the Board but are not limited to Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), American Academy of Forensic Science, American Board of Bioanalysts (ABB), American Chemical Society (ACS), American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, American Medical Association (AMA), the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS), the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP), American Society of Microbiology (ASM), Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), California Association for Medical Laboratory Technology (CAMLT), California Association of Toxicologists, Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC) , College of American Pathologists (CAP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA), Clinical Ligand Assay Society (CLAS), the Colorado Association for Continuing Medical Laboratory Education, Inc. (CACMLE), the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Royal College of Pathologists, The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, , and the Society of Forensic Toxicologists.
Continuing education accredited by the States of California and Florida’s Clinical Laboratory Personnel Continuing Education Program is also acceptable as Category 1 credits.
Other CE Providers
The Board reserves the right to accept other educational activities in satisfaction of the Category 1 CE credit requirement upon prior application to the Board by the person, organization, or entity sponsoring or providing the educational activity. All continuing education must reflect the scope of practice of clinical laboratory medicine and must be obtained during the two-year period, January 1—December 31, immediately prior to submitting documentation. Therefore, if in doubt whether a CE activity applies for Category 1 credit, check with the Board prior to attending for acceptability. Please send information to ABCC Coordinator at the following address: ABCC, 900 7th Street, N.W. Suite 400, Washington, DC 20001
All inquiries will be forwarded to the Board’s Continuing Education Committee and a decision on the acceptability of the program will be communicated to the interested party. Every attempt will be made to return a decision within two weeks after receipt of the information.
Content of CE
All continuing education must reflect the scope of practice of clinical laboratory medicine regardless of specialty. Therefore, all Diplomates may achieve CE credit in any area of Laboratory Medicine. For example CE credit may be obtained through clinical chemistry related CE topics for those boarded in toxicology. Alternatively, those who are boarded in chemistry may achieve CE credit through hematology or laboratory management related topics exclusively.
Category 2 Details
- Non-accredited seminars: Formal scientific career-related continuing education programs that are not category 1. One hour of CE is allocated per hour of non-accredited seminar.
- Teaching: Teaching of laboratory medicine or career-related subjects. Presentations in workshops and seminars. One hour of CE is allocated per hour of presentation.
- Publications
- Papers: A paper, which has been published during the year in a recognized (indexed) journal or presented before a professional audience. Five hours of CE are allocated for first author; 4 hours of CE for corresponding author if not first author; 2 hours of CE for middle authors.
- Books: Each chapter of a medically related book. Eight hours of CE are allocated for each book chapter.
- Exhibits: Development of a technical scientific exhibit displayed at a national scientific meeting. Two hours of CE are allocated only for the presenter of a poster/oral presentation at a national scientific meeting.
Documenting Continuing Education Activities
Diplomates will be notified every two years of the CE requirement. CE activities must be obtained during the two-year period, January 1—December 31, immediately prior to submitting documentation and must total at least 50 hours for the preceding 2 years. In addition to attesting they have completed the required CE, Diplomates must submit the current CE renewal fee by February 1 of the appropriate year in order to remain in the directory of active Diplomates.
A review of certification renewal cycles begins in January. This review is to verify documentation and processing fees and can take several weeks to complete. During this time, you may visit CE Broker to view your submitted documentation. Please note that the status in CE Broker is updated at the beginning of each month. Depending on when you submitted payment, it may take several weeks for the status to update from “lapsed” to “active” in CE Broker. However, this does not impact the diplomate listing on the ABCC website assuming you have submitted documentation and payment by the deadline.
Initial Year of Certification
The requirement for CE is waived for the calendar year during which Diplomate status is achieved. New Diplomates are required to begin earning CE the year following receipt of their Diplomate status.
CE Audit
A percentage of Diplomates will be audited each year to determine compliance with the CE requirements. Diplomates who are audited must provide copies of their transcripts or attendance certificates for category 1 CE as reported for the CE renewal period. All Diplomates are responsible for maintaining documentation (transcripts or attendance certificates) of their category 1 CE for three years past attendance in order to comply with the audit if selected.
Directory of Active Diplomates
A directory of active Diplomates is published with the names of Diplomates who have demonstrated continued competency by completing continuing education in laboratory science during the previous two years. To ensure they are included in the directory, Diplomates must submit documentation of CE by February 1 of the appropriate year.