From the time spent waiting for an organ for donation to the post-surgical recovery, transplant nurses play an integral role in the lives of patients involved in transplants. Today, National Transplant Nurses Day, recognizes that work.
The International Transplant Nurses Society started a national recognition day for transplant nurses in 2006. Since then, they have attracted attention to the day and boosted recognition for all these nurses do in their field. The organization even builds pride with an essay contest in which patients may nominate a nurse who has had a particularly important impact in their lives.
But the day also shines a light on the varies responsibilities of nurses who are an integral part of the transplant team.
According to the Health Career Institute, transplant nurses’ duties can range from prepping patients for transplant surgery and assisting in the transplant surgery itself to monitoring post-surgery for organ rejection or complications.
Before deciding on this career path, prospective transplant nurses generally gain experience in the field by working in a transplant unit. Eventually, certification as a clinical transplant nurse will help you provide the best patient care and will also signal to your organization how committed you are to your job. Certification in the field through the American Board for Transplant Certification shows you are willing to go beyond your job requirements and gain additional training and education to remain on the forefront of transplant-related practices.
Nurses who work with transplant patients and their families may be involved in cases of living donors or deceased donors. They must remain sensitive to the complex emotional environment surrounding the origins of the donated organs while remaining a vigilant advocate for the organ recipient’s health first and foremost.
Transplants are becoming more and more complex, with multi-organ transplants a more common surgery than ever before. Transplant nurses on the leading edge of the field will want to be well-educated on all the body systems involved and the varied ways that can present challenges in the human body. Because the transplant team includes many diverse specialists, transplant nurses have to work well on a fast-paced team where situations change in an instant and the clear path isn’t always obvious. They have to have excellent critical thinking and be knowledgeable and confident enough to make excellent decisions based on the patient in front of them.
With the emotional challenges and complexities around transplantation and the patients and families involved, transplant nurses have to be sure to have resources to deal with the emotional extremes–from grief to joy—that will become part of their daily routine. But they are reassured about the impact they are making for the patients they treat. A lifelong connection often develops from playing such an essential role in someone’s journey.
On March 19, nurses everywhere can honor the extra work they have put into getting certified as the nation celebrates Certified Nurses Day.
Sponsored by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Nurses Association, Certified Nurses Day offers a chance to acknowledge nurses’ extra efforts to gain the board certification that establishes advanced knowledge and specialization in specific areas. Nurses can earn certification in everything from national healthcare disaster certification to cardiac rehabilitation to nursing case management, sharpening their skill set and therefore improving the patient care they provide. But certification takes work. Nurses must pass a credentialing exam and complete continuing education to maintain certification every few years. Registered nurses are able to practice nursing, but nurses who earn certification status in various specialties are valuable to employers for additional reasons. Their extra motivation and willingness to become certified signals a dedication to nursing and to patient care. Earning certification shows they pursue their passions to advance their skills and go above and beyond typical job duties.
According to the ANCC, Certified Nurses Day is celebrated on “the birthday of Margretta ‘Gretta’ Madden Styles, the renowned expert of nurse credentialing. An accomplished advocate for nursing standards and certification, for more than two decades Styles advanced nursing practice and regulation worldwide.”
Nurses who are board certified in any specialty can help educate other nurses of the value of obtaining this extra designation. And the healthcare settings, patients, employers, and others for whom nurses form an invaluable part of the team can bolster the efforts and recognize the extra work it takes to earn and keep that certification.
If you don’t have certification in a specialty you’re particularly interested in or if you want to obtain another certification, the ANCC can help answer questions. Each certification has different testing and renewal requirements, so it’s best to check what you’ll need.
Many certified nurses appreciate the expertise recognition their certification confers. If you are especially interested in an area of nursing and have knowledge that people turn to you for, getting certified makes your knowledge and professionalism recognizable to others. Some nurses say they are reluctant to take the credentialing exam as they aren’t sure if they will pass. If that is your concern, take the extra time to study. If you don’t pass, you can take it again. Not everyone passes credentialing exams on the first try, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t refocus and take it again.
On Certified Nurses Day celebrate yourself and your colleagues who have obtained this extra education. Make plans to go out to lunch or just to say thanks to your colleagues who are making an effort to improve nursing care and their own professional skills. If you are thinking about getting certified in a specialty, take steps today to get the process started. You’ll advance your knowledge, your career, and your profession while providing the best possible patient care.
Advanced education and specialty certifications can help minority nurses take their careers—and their ability to improve health outcomes—to a whole new level.
Carmen Paniagua has so many educational and professional credentials after her name that she practically needs an oversized business card to fit them all. In addition to being an RN, she is an ANP (Adult Nurse Practitioner), a board-certified ACNP (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner) and AGACNP (Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner), an APNG-BC (Advanced Practice Nurse in Genetics), and a FAANP (Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners). She’s also a CPC (Certified Procedural Coder) and a CMI (Certified Medical Interpreter), and she holds MSN and EdD (Doctor of Education) degrees.
“Some people probably look at my CV and think this is just a lot of ‘alphabet soup,’” says Paniagua, a faculty member at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in Little Rock. “But advanced degrees and certifications are more than just a collection of letters. They’re the evidence and recognition of your competence and clinical expertise. They enable nurses to take pride in the accomplishment of advanced practice knowledge and to demonstrate their specialty expertise to both employers and patients.”
Jose Alejandro, president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and corporate director of case management at Cornerstone Healthcare Group in Dallas, agrees that it’s what those abbreviations really stand for that counts.
“You can have all the degrees and certifications you want, but it’s the tools you learn from having them that’s the biggest benefit,” says Alejandro, an RN-BC (Registered Nurse-Board Certified), CCM (Certified Case Manager), FACHE (Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives), and a MBA who recently earned his PhD. “They give you additional skills and what I call your ‘chops.’ That’s primarily what has enabled me to move up in my career, because I can accomplish things based on more than just having experience.”
Opening Doors
There are many compelling reasons for minority nurses to pursue graduate education and specialty nursing certifications. Acquiring these credentials opens the door to a wide new horizon of rewarding advanced practice careers and leadership roles—from nursing professor and nurse scientist to nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, nurse executive, and more. Furthermore, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) landmark 2010 report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health calls for all nurses to “achieve higher levels of education and training” and “attain competency in specific content areas” in order to respond more effectively in today’s rapidly evolving health care environment.
But the IOM report also underscores an even more persuasive reason. Advanced degrees and certifications—or more precisely, the specialized knowledge and skills nurses gain from them—are linked to improved patient outcomes and better nurse-led interventions for eliminating minority health disparities.
“This is a wonderful time for all nurses, and particularly nurses of color, to seriously look at graduate education, because of the millions of uninsured and underinsured people who will now be coming into the health care system as a result of the Affordable Care Act,” says Kem Louie, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, APN, CNE, FAAN, professor and director of the graduate nursing program at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. “Many of these new patients will be members of medically underserved minority populations. The other issue is that there’s a shortage of primary care physicians. So there’s a tremendous need to increase the number of culturally competent advanced practice nurses who can meet these patients’ primary health care needs.”
Of course, it’s also hard to ignore the “what’s in it for me?” benefits. Becoming certified in an in-demand specialty—for example, emergency nursing, perioperative nursing, critical care, or pediatrics—increases your value to employers. Plus, it’s no secret that many advanced practice (APRN) specialties that require a master’s degree and board certification—such as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)—pay substantially higher salaries than the typical staff RN position (see sidebar). In fact, according to the most recent (2008) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, RNs with graduate degrees earn an average of at least $20,000 more per year than nurses with lower education levels.
But it’s not just about the money, argues Henry Talley V, PhD, CRNA, MSN, MS, director of the nurse anesthesia program at Michigan State University College of Nursing in East Lansing and treasurer of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. “Advanced degrees and specialty certifications do increase your earning powers,” he says. “But they also increase your ability to make change happen in health care. They make you an expert in your particular field, and they put nurses on an equal footing with other health professionals.”
Breaking Down Barriers
Minority enrollments in graduate nursing programs have nearly doubled over the past decade, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Yet racial, ethnic, and gender minority nurses continue to be underrepresented among the ranks of APRNs and certified RNs—primarily because they’re still underrepresented in the nursing population as a whole. Fortunately, numerous nursing organizations, from AACN to the American Board of Nursing Specialties, are recognizing the need to identify and remove barriers that may prevent nurses from diverse backgrounds from earning the advanced credentials they need to succeed.
Traditionally, one of the biggest challenges in going back to school—for majority and minority nurses alike—is finding the funds to pay for it. And thanks to the current economy, with its skyrocketing tuition rates and burgeoning student loan debt, figuring out how to afford graduate school can be a trickier task than ever. Then there’s the cost of certification examinations, which in some cases can range from about $300–$400 to as high as $725 for the CRNA exam. But even though finances can be a formidable obstacle, they’re not an insurmountable one.
“What I have personally observed is that our potential minority nursing students are much more hesitant to take out loans and incur debt than majority students,” says Courtney Lyder, ND, ScD(Hon), GNP, FAAN, dean and professor at UCLA School of Nursing. “And what I tell them is: Nurses make good salaries. Compared with other academic disciplines, the compensation in nursing makes it one of the few professions in which you can actually pay off student debt in a timely manner.”
“One of the benefits of coming to graduate school now is that there are still scholarships and federal financial assistance programs available,” adds Louie, who is also the founding president of the Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association. She cites HRSA programs like the National Health Service Corps, which provides scholarships for nurse practitioner and nurse-midwife students in return for a commitment to practice in a medically underserved area for at least two years after graduation, and the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, which forgives 85% of student loan debt for RNs who complete a graduate degree at a participating school and agree to serve as full-time nursing faculty.
Talley and his wife, a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), recently conducted research examining some of the other factors that impede minority nurses from pursuing advanced degrees in general and nurse anesthesia degrees in particular. Lack of knowledge about APRN and specialty nursing career paths is another big barrier, he says.
“There are still people of color out there who have just not had the exposure to these career options,” Talley explains. “Nursing specialties have to get the message out to them about these opportunities and what the requirements are. Nurses need to know early on that they will want an advanced degree, because the key to opening that door will be how well they do in their undergraduate studies. Otherwise, they’ll find out about advanced practice specialties later in their BSN programs and decide ‘I want to do that’ when their GPAs will not support it.”
But Alejandro believes that perhaps the hardest hurdle for minority nurses to clear is the surprisingly common “fear factor.”
“It’s the fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of whatever,” he says. “I tell all the students I mentor: ‘The very first barrier you have to overcome in pursuing any advanced education or any certification is removing that fear.’ In my case, once I was over that fear, I was able to ask questions. If I didn’t understand something in a particular class, I went ahead and asked classmates who understood it a little better.”
Starting the Journey
So you’ve decided it’s the right time to return to school, earn an advanced degree, and chart your course toward a fulfilling specialty nursing career. Congratulations! But where do you start? How do you choose which graduate program to apply to? And what type of degree should you go after? Is a terminal master’s enough or will you need a doctorate?
Lyder, who made history by becoming the first male minority dean of a school of nursing in the United States, as well as the first African American dean at UCLA, says it all boils down to answering one basic question: What do you want to do?
“Find your bliss,” he advises. “Is it pediatrics, geriatrics, psych/mental health, administration, nurse-midwifery, nurse anesthesia? Once you’ve figured that out, the next step is to identify schools in your community that may have those programs. Then, contact those schools and schedule a time to talk with the admissions counselors—and I don’t mean an e-mail—to see if this is something you really want to pursue. Also, try to find an opportunity to shadow someone who’s in that role. Identify that CRNA or that psychiatric nurse practitioner and say, ‘Can I shadow you for a day to get a sense of whether this is what I want to do?’”
Getting over the fear of speaking directly with admissions officers or the graduate program director to get the facts you need to make well-informed decisions about a school is key, Louie emphasizes.
“You have to tell yourself, ‘Just pick up the phone,’” she says. “Graduate programs in nursing are competitive and some of them can be very daunting. But I find that I have to invite students to talk to me, to ask me, ‘What support services are available? Tell me about the admission requirements. Help me through the application process.’”
As for what kind of advanced degree to get, once again it all depends on your goals.
“Some nurses are confused about advancing their education. They think they all have to be PhDs,” says Paniagua. “Well, if you’d like to be a nurse researcher, then a PhD is fine, because it’s primarily a research-focused doctorate. But then there are other avenues. You can get a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), which is a professional practice degree, or you can get an EdD, which is an education-focused doctorate. So if you’re planning to have a career in academia, you should pursue either an EdD or a PhD. If you’re planning to practice or to work in the clinical setting, you should get your DNP. Or you can just get a master’s degree [in your specialty area of interest, such as an MBA or an MSN in nursing informatics].”
Above all, the most important thing to consider when shopping around for a graduate program is finding one that’s the right fit for your specific needs—both academic and personal.
“You need to make sure that your value system is in sync with the mission and vision of the institution,” Lyder says. “For example, here at UCLA we are a research-intensive school of nursing. Our professors infuse research and evidence-based practice into every course, every lecture, everything they do. If that’s not the type of learning environment you want, then this isn’t going to be a good match for you.”
Louie recommends investigating different program formats to find options that will accommodate what she calls “your life needs.” For instance, if you have to keep working at your job while going to school, or you have young children or other family obligations, the traditional full-time, brick-and-mortar campus model may not work for you. “You need to know that there are online programs, there are blended online/on-campus programs, there are part-time and weekend programs,” she says.
Another alternative worth exploring is the accelerated (fast track) format. These programs include RN-to-MSN—also known as a Master’s Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN)—which bypasses the traditional BSN degree, and BSN-to-PhD, which bypasses the master’s. Their greatest advantage is that they enable nurses to earn graduate degrees more quickly and earlier in their careers. However, because the accelerated time frame makes the academic workload extremely intensive, these programs aren’t for everybody.
Taking the Plunge
Achieving the advanced degrees and certifications that will boost your career to a higher level can be an arduous process. But all the nurse leaders interviewed for this article agree that the rewards are worth it. In fact, with the right preparation, the right program, and strong support networks (family, friends, faith, colleagues, mentors, and minority nursing associations), it might just be easier than you think.
Talley offers this advice: “Don’t be afraid to take the plunge. I think sometimes we [minority nurses] doubt ourselves, and there’s no reason to. Believe in yourself, have faith in yourself, and don’t let anyone interfere with your dreams.”
Do credentialing examinations for nurses, such as the NCLEX-RN and specialty certification exams, put minority and foreign-educated candidates at a disadvantage? Or are these tests indeed culturally sensitive and fair to all who take them, regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin? There are no easy answers to this thorny question, which is currently the subject of much debate among minority nursing leaders.
One way the organizations that create these exams can maximize the chances of the playing field being level is to make sure nurses from culturally diverse backgrounds are involved in the test development process. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), an ANA subsidiary that offers more than 40 certification exams in a wide range of specialties, is seeking qualified nurses of color to write examination items (questions) or to serve on content expert panels (CEPs) that review the items and develop test content outlines. Item writers and reviewers don’t have to be academics or have test development experience, but they must be certified in their nursing specialty.
Why is it so important to have more racial and ethnic minority nurses serving in these capacities? “One of the advantages of having minority nurses involved in developing exams is that they can look for bias [in questions] against a particular group,” says Dr. David Paulson, ANCC’s director of Measurement Services. The CEPs generally convene twice a year for three-day test review workshops in Washington, D.C. At these workshops, Paulson explains, “if any cultural or ethnic issues come up regarding a test question, it is helpful to have minority nurses represented there to discuss any items that may be biased.”
Item writers participate in an intensive three-day training session in Washington (all expenses paid). They are then required to research, write and submit 80 exam questions over a one-year period. Content expert panel members must attend the review workshops plus participate in approximately three conference calls a year. Some at-home review work may also be required. While writers and reviewers are not paid for their services, they do receive a substantial reduction in the number of continuing education contact hours required for their recertification.
For more information, contact Jamila Odom, (800) 284-7291, [email protected].
Luckily for you, allied health professionals are in great demand. Unluckily for you, getting and keeping the certification you need can be a challenge. Between ever-changing educational requirements, certification exams, continuing education requirements and the confusion surrounding certification versus registration versus licensure, it’s no wonder that your head spins when you think about becoming certified in your field.
Help is at hand. We spoke with execs at allied health organizations and members of certification boards to clearly map out the route to becoming certified in several fields.
Please note, however, this is only a brief sampling of allied health careers. If we were to cover all the important areas of allied health, we’d wind up writing a book! If you don’t see your specialty covered here, it doesn’t mean Diversity: Allied Health Careers is ignoring your profession. A terrific source of information is your allied health discipline’s professional association Web site.
Speech-language-hearing pathologist
You can call yourself a speech-language pathologist as soon as you have your degree. However, to be certified you must go through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). “ASHA certification is a voluntary process, but it gives individuals mobility, a standing with employers they might not have with just licensure and rights to bill for Medicare and Medicaid,” says Georgia McMann, director of certification administration at ASHA. “In some positions, certification is what employers look at when they’re deciding on salary increases or promotions.”
Forty-eight states have licensure laws, and most of them are very similar to ASHA’s certification requirements. “State licensure boards will accept verification of ASHA certification and will not require that an individual present all of the documentation and go through what can be a very lengthy process for licensure,” says McMann.
Requirements: To be certified, you need a master’s degree. This involves 75 hours of coursework, of which 36 are graduate hours, and 350 hours of practicum, of which 250 are in speech and language disorders. ASHA’s code of ethics also requires students to sign a basic ethics statement.
The Exam: The exam is a two-hour, multiple choice test with 150 questions. The pass rate is approximately 87%. Many students take the exam during their last semester. The exam is given six times per year and can be taken at major universities across the U.S. For dates and locations, contact ASHA by phone or online, or visit the Educational Testing Service at www.ETS.org. You must pass the exam within three years of your academic coursework being approved for ASHA certification.
Help: ETS publishes two study guides: one for speech and one for audiology.
Continuing Education: In audiology, continuing education requirements start this year. For speech-language pathologists, the requirements will start in 2005. Certified members will have three years in which to complete three Continuing Education Units or 30 contact hours. Check the ASHA Web site for more information.
Advice: “Our certification standards are changing, so for individuals who are enrolled in a graduate program, apply as soon as you get the degree so you won’t face the situation where you were trained under earlier standards and now new standards are in effect,” says McMann.
Radiologic Technologist
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) generally requires technologists to be registered as well as certified. The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) annually registers the certificates of individuals who agree to comply with the ARRT Rules and Regulations, continue to comply with the ARRT Standards of Ethics and meet the Continuing Education Requirements. Whether you need to be certified and/or registered depends on your state. To find out, call your state department of health, or check out the list of state contacts on the ARRT Web site.
About 35 states require a license as well as a certificate. “In all states that require a license, if you are ARRT-registered you can get the license without a problem,” says Ginny Haselhuhn, B.S., R.T.(R), assistant executive director of the ARRT. While right now the states are in charge of whether to require licensure, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) is working with other groups to create a federal minimum requirements licensure program. This is called the CARE bill, for Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence, and it’s just been introduced in the House of Representatives. This bill would require all states to have strong laws regarding licensure and certification.
Requirements: How much education you need for certification depends on your modality. The primary modalities—radiography, nuclear medicine technology and radiation therapy—have accredited programs. Most radiography programs are two years long, but some last four years. Nuclear medicine technology and radiation therapy most often require an additional year beyond radiography.
To become certified as a radiologic technologist, you must also uphold the ethical standards of the ARRT. “You can’t have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor,” says Haselhuhn. “You also can’t have lied on your application or something of that nature. We don’t want people who have been convicted of murder or rape or assault to be working with patients.”
The Exam: The exam is a computer-based, multiple choice test with 200 questions and takes about three hours. The exams are scheduled at the student’s convenience at multiple test centers across the U.S. You can take the exam up to three times in three years. If you aren’t successful after three tries, you have to go back and do remedial activities such as independent study to retake the test one last time, within a year.
Help: The ARRT’s certification handbook has a content outline of the exam to help you study. You should receive the handbook from your program director when you’re about to finish the program, or you can order it on the ARRT Web site.
Continuing Education: Every technologist must complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years.
Of those 24 hours, a minimum of 12 must be “Category A,” which means that the educational activity has been evaluated by a RCEEM, or Recognized Continuing Education Evaluation Mechanism, such as the ASRT.
Advice: “Clinical experience as well as didactic knowledge—understanding why you do what you do—is really what it’s all about,” says Haselhuhn. “Understanding the ‘whys’ makes all the difference in the world.”
Respiratory therapist
Certification is considered the entry level into practice for respiratory therapists. “Most hospitals want at least a minimally certified credentialed respiratory therapist,” says Pam Bortner, MBA, RRT, president of the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). Forty-four states plus Puerto Rico also require licensure; to gain licensure, you must be certified. To find out what your state requires, check out the NBRC Web site.
Requirements: Anyone enrolled in a program beginning after January 1, 2002, must have a minimum of an associate degree from a respiratory therapy education program supported by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC), or its predecessor, the Joint Review Committee for Respiratory Therapy Education (JRCRTE) or accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). Individuals enrolled in an education program before January 1, 2002, must have a certificate of completion from a respiratory therapy education program supported by the CoARC or the JRCRTE or accredited by the CAAHEP.
The Exam: The entry-level test is the CRT. The examination is given via computer and consists of 160 multiple-choice questions distributed among three major content areas: clinical data, equipment and therapeutic procedures. Candidates are given three hours to complete the CRT exam. The exams are given Monday through Friday, and there are testing centers in every state. The test is given at AMP Assessment Centers, many of which are located within select H&R Block tax offices. You can take the exam as many times as you need to, and there’s no time limit.
Help: An overview of the test is available in a book that you can order through the NBRC Web site. You can also take self-assessment exams on the site; one version is free, and there are also secured exams that require a fee.
Continuing Education: A mandatory competency program went into effect in July 2002; every five years you must either take a specialty exam, take a self-assessment exam or complete continuing education credits. “It might sound like a lot, but it’s really not,” says Bortner. “Most of the states that have licensure have a mandatory requirement to maintain between 12 and 18 continuing education credits in two years. So if you maintain your licensure competency, you would automatically keep your credential competency.”
Advice: “If you complete the requirements of the program fairly satisfactorily, you should not have too much problem with the examination,” says Bortner. “We spend a lot of time with the educational people as far as making up examinations. When we look at the requirements for an examination, we share that with the educational programs, so their curriculum is very much professionally based.”
Physician Assistant
Physician assistants are licensed in all 50 states, and certification is required for licensure. The requirements for initial licensure are fairly consistent in all states. “What varies are the requirements for relicensure or licensure renewal,” says Ragan Morrow, director of governance and communication for the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). “Nineteen states require certification for licensure renewal, and three others link certification to prescriptive privileges.”
Requirements: Candidates must graduate from a physician assistant program that’s accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Most programs take two years on top of a bachelor’s degree.
The Exam: The initial certification exam is called the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). The computer-based test has 300 multiple choice questions and takes six hours. It’s offered 50 weeks out of the year at over 300 Prometric centers across the country. You must pass the exam within six years of graduation or within six attempts, whichever comes first. “In the entire history of the organization, less than one-tenth of one percent of PAs did not pass within their first six attempts,” says Morrow.
Help: The American Academy of Physician Assistants(AAPA) offers a list of exam review courses at www.aapa.org/cme/review-cert.html. There are also several study guides, including A Comprehensive Review for the Certification and Recertification Examinations for Physician Assistants, which includes a CD ROM with a practice test (AAPA members: $32.95; Non-members: $37.95; Contact: API: 800-708-7581). An updated version of this book is now available.
Continuing Education: The initial certification is good for two years, after which certificate holders must log 100 hours of continuing medical education (CME) every two years. After six years, you must take a recertification exam. Four organizations either provide the CME or approve other organizations to provide the CME; one of the biggest providers is the AAPA. PAs can also go to any CME that’s accredited for physicians.
Advice: “People who do well in their PA program are generally going to do very well on the certification exam,” says Morrow. “Put in the hours when you’re in your program, and certification should just be one last step to a great career.”
Occupational Therapist
Forty-seven states require licensure to work as an occupational therapist, and certification is part of the licensure requirements. NBCOT offers two types of certification: the Occupational Therapist Registered and the Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant.
Requirements: To become an Occupational Therapist Registered, you must be a graduate of an accredited occupational therapy program and complete fieldwork. Some programs are at the bachelor’s level, but most are at the master’s level. Becoming a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant requires a two-year technical degree from a community college or technical school plus fieldwork. All candidates must sign a code of conduct; every three years, you must reattest to the standards.
The Exam: The exam, which is administered by computer, consists of 200 multiple-choice questions and lasts about four and a half hours. The exam is given at the candidate’s convenience at more than 300 Prometric Test Centers throughout North America, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. If you fail the test, there’s a waiting period of 90 days to retake it. You can take the exam as many times as you need to, and there’s no time limit.
Help: Some companies, such as F. A. Davis Company, offer study guides for the NBCOT exam. Search the Internet with the keywords “study guide” and “NBCOT” to find others.
Continuing Education: Every three years, you must attain 36 hours of professional development activities, which may include taking college classes, attending workshops, authoring a book and lecturing at a seminar. “The opportunities are very cost-effective and attainable,” says Paul Grace , MS , executive director of NBCOT.
Advice: “A quality certification exam needs to measure what you do in practice,” says Grace. “Where students put that to task is in their fieldwork experience. So besides going to a fine school and getting a degree, their fieldwork should offer them a variety of experiences so they can truly experience the breadth of the profession. When they see questions on the exam about particular scenarios, they’ll have their fieldwork experience to draw from.”
