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. 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 submitting documentation as proof of CE, Diplomates must submit the current CE renewal fee. Diplomates will be notified every two years of the CE requirement.
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. The following describes in more detail the requirements for continuing education.
Continuing Education Requirements
All continuing education must reflect the scope of practice of clinical laboratory medicine regardless of specialty. Diplomates may achieve CE credit in any area of laboratory medicine. For Category 1, acceptable accreditation programs and their CE credits should be well-established and well-recognized in the field. This can be determined by history, breadth, and acceptance by other organizations or bureaus as valid education currency. The program should also have established processes to prevent bias, ensure scientific integrity, and relevancy to clinical laboratory practice. The accreditation statement and mission statement are especially important to determining whether the CE credit is relevant to ABCC diplomate audiences. Common types of credit include ACCENT, CME, CPD, and PACE. For Category 2, CE Credits can come from a wide range of professional activities.
To maintain active status as a diplomate, ABCC requires participation in 50 hours of CE every two years, which can be obtained as follows:
Documentation Requirements
Documentation can be represented by many forms of verification that include: certificate of completion, transcripts, registration / participation email, agenda with their name, event materials, manuscript assignment, course curriculum with instructor name, or an attestation of work completed with a description. All documentation must be submitted in English and should contain, at a minimum:
- Diplomate’s name
- Activity title (topic) or name of the educational activity
- Name of the training entity (organization or individual) delivering the activity
- Date(s) of the activity
- Number of actual hours attended or CE hours claiming for the activity
- Attestation that the diplomate attended (this can be the provider or organizer)
Documentation is currently submitted using the free-to-use CE Broker service. Please note that any subsequent diplomate status in a second or third specialty area will not warrant separate requirements for maintaining certification. Diplomates holding multiple specialties are required to upload CE credits for their first specialty only.
CE Audits
For each two-year maintenance of certification cycle, diplomates are audited at random to ensure appropriate and adequate evidence is submitted to document continuing education in laboratory medicine. This audit takes place annually and is overseen by the Chair, Continuing Education. Diplomates who are audited must provide copies of their certificates or transcripts for category 1 and category 2 CE as reported for the CE renewal period. All Diplomates are responsible for maintaining and uploading proper documentation of their category 1 and 2 CE onto their CE Broker account in order to comply with the audit if selected.
Other CE Providers
ABCC reserves the right to accept other educational activities in satisfaction of the Category 1 CE credit requirement with prior application to the Board by the person, organization, or entity providing the educational activity. To inquire whether a CE activity applies for Category 1 credit, please contact the Board before attending.