| Thoughts about the BOR action regarding continuing education
requirement Mary Ann McLane, Region II Director The Board of Registry (BOR) of the American Society for Clinical Pathology has for its past 75 years of existence insisted that the entry-level certification, taken by the majority of practicing clinical lab professionals, is a permanent certification, never needing to be updated. What that also means, however, is that individuals who have passed the exam and never worked a day in their life in a clinical lab setting could STILL place the initials after their name. In the late 1970's, our parent society, the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, tried to get the BOR to make continuing education a mandatory part of any certification process. This was based on the fact that technology was rapidly advancing, and the fact that a person had passed an entry-level test 10, 20, 40 or even just 3 years ago was no guarantee to the general public, to supervisors or to their peers that one had maintained continued competence. The BOR chose not to so, and to that end, the National Credentialing Agency (NCA) was established in 1978 , which offered its own peer-reviewed, competency-based entry-level examinations, plus the requirement that any successful certificant had to submit proof of continuing education to maintain their certification. It is now the 21st century, and there is a groundswell of voices demanding that personnel show continued competency. In addition, states with personnel licensure such as California are getting out of the business of making their own state exams, and are moving toward accepting national certifications, but only if the agency providing those exams require continuing education. For those of us certified through NCA, we've been doing that for almost 30 years. For those with BOR certification, such a requirement is being initiated for those passing the entry-level certification exam as of January 2004. This means that those in school right now will have to begin keeping track of their continuing education in order to have their certification maintained as "current". But what about the rest of us? Somehow, it seems a bit incongruous that a person who has been through a recent education program, who can run rings around most of us on all aspects of clinical lab testing simply because they have the most recent exposure, would need to document their continued competence, and those of us who have been in the field for 2 years or more would not! Kory Ward-Cook at the BOR shared in an e-mail to me that the "examination committees handling the specialists examinations are now in the process of considering this requirement for specialists". She mentioned in a later phone conversation that the BOR governing board is, in fact, going through the logistics and legal questions about making continuing education be mandatory for all certificants. Requiring it for the newest graduates is just the first "roll-out". They just haven't made it public yet that it's going to affect the rest of us. I would certainly encourage you to contact the BOR and share your thoughts about this (312-738-4861, koryw@ascp.org). They need to hear from the grass roots about what this will mean for you and your practice of our profession. No longer will your employers be able to deny you time and/or support for getting continuing education since it will be mandatory for your being able to work. Right now, despite some employers insisting on your showing that little yearly sticker, the "registry" is meaningless since there are no "teeth" in the BOR certification. You've gotten it once and never are required to demonstrate that you have done one thing to advance your knowledge. This action, already taken by most states with personnel licensure, and about 30 years ago by NCA, and now contemplated by the BOR, will put teeth into our insistence that we need to attend continuing education sessions to maintain our level of competence. I once again strongly encourage you to contact the BOR and let them know your thoughts. Send them to me, too, if you wish: mclane@udel.edu |
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