ASCP BOC

January/February 2020

Important Information for the New Year:

Clinical Laboratory Educator's Conference (CLEC)

The 2020 CLEC will be held February 26 – 28 in Orlando, FL. We look forward to providing you with an update on ASCP Board of Certification activities, and meeting with you at booth #8, near the posters. We will be raffling off several study guides and will have copies of the revised 2020 Program Director's Guide to Certification.

 

Updated Program Director's Guide to Certification

A revised and improved Program Director's Guide to Certification will be available in February 2020. The new edition contains an expanded section about the exam itself, a handy Application Timeline, detailed information about how to best help your students before and after the examination, as well as complete information about the EEV and PPR. Make sure to view the eBook online and pick up a printed copy at CLEC. ascp.org/boc/pd/resources

 

Revised Publications Available Online in February 2020

Go to www.ascp.org/boc to find the most current publications.

  • January 2020 U.S. Procedures for Examination and Certification
  • January 2020 International Procedures for Examination and Certification
  • January 2020 Procedures for Qualification
  • Annual Exam Statistics

 

New Qualification in Biorepository Science (QBRS) available January 1, 2020

A new Qualification in Biorepository Science, QBRS, is now offered in conjunction with the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER). Applications are available with the first testing date being April 1, 2020. Complete information is available here: www.ascp.org/boc/qbrs

 

ASCP Foundation Grants and Scholarships Available Soon!*

The ASCP Foundation provides essential support to tomorrow's diagnostic medicine professionals through opportunities like:

  • Laboratory Science Program Director Educational Grants - Support program enrichment and expenses, and clinical site placements.
  • Laboratory Student Scholarships - Assist academically high-achieving students with expenses related to their medical education.
  • Garza & Becan-McBride Endowed Scholarship - Supports one outstanding phlebotomy student.

Click here to learn more about these grants and scholarships and for more information on when applications will be available.

 

Survey on Student Scheduling of Exams at PearsonVUE* - Spring 2020

The ASCP BOC has received feedback that students may be having difficulty scheduling their exam on their preferred date and/or at a preferred Pearson VUE testing site. We take your input seriously and have been in conversations with Pearson VUE about this topic. We are also creating a survey in order to best address this issue. Please be on the lookout for an email this spring and help us gather overall program data by completing the short survey**. In addition, students will also receive an email within a month of scheduling their exam to gather specific information; please let them know to be on the lookout for this survey** and encourage them to complete it.

Please be advised that if examinees call immediately upon receiving their Admission Notification they should expect to schedule an exam date within 30 days of the beginning of their eligibility window.

**Make sure that you and your students have not opted out of receiving emails from the ASCP BOC. Take a moment to review your Communications settings and verify that the "BOC" and "ASCP Surveys" are not checked. See page 12 of the new Program Director's Guide to Certification for complete instructions.

 

Review the Online Application

Before your students begin to apply, we encourage you to review the online application in order to better answer questions from your students. Login to your ASCP account to apply without entering payment information. We encourage you to take screen shots to share with students and highlight any potential difficulties. Once saved, your application will remain in your account for six months. In addition, make sure to watch the video that walks applicants through the online application process at www.ascp.org/certification. If you need assistance or have questions, email us at PDInfo@ascp.org.

 

Change in Program Director or Program Information

Please be sure to notify the BOC office at PDInfo@ascp.org if there has been or will soon be a change in program director. Please also let us know if any of your program information changes such as email address, program status, name of institution, or mailing address.

For program directors from international countries for ASCPi certification, please notify Angela Sreckovic at Angela.Sreckovic@ascp.org.

 

Ethics and the Appropriate Use of Social Media

ASCP BOC Examination Questions - Copyright and Ethics Violations

ASCP Board of Certification examinations are protected by copyright law. When your students apply for certification, they agree to adhere to the following statement stating, in part:

"I understand that this examination and all test questions are the exclusive property of the Board of Certification and are protected by copyright law. Because of the confidential nature of these copyright materials, I agree not to retain, copy, disclose or reveal any part of these examination materials . . ."

The ASCP BOC monitors the web and social media sites regularly for individuals or groups who claim to have questions from ASCP BOC examinations. These are sometimes called "recalls," "remembrances" or "brain dumps." Individuals who contribute to these sites, or share examination items in any manner, are infringing on the ASCP BOC's exclusive copyrights.

Be aware that students who reveal specific information on the examination, such as recalling examination questions and responses, to their peers and instructors, are committing copyright infringement. If BOC certificants are found to be in violation, their certification will be revoked; all individuals found to be in violation will be barred permanently from taking any BOC examination.

 

Ethics Reminders

An ethics reminder has been added to all exams republished in 2020 as well as the MLT and MLS exams. Examinees must agree to a statement at the end of their examination that they will not share exam items and that they understand this is a violation of copyright. As well, starting in January 2020, students will receive an email the day after their exam to remind them that they have signed multiple pledges stating that they will not share exam material. In both of these reminders it is clearly laid out that if examinees do share this type of information and are caught doing so they may have their certification revoked and be permanently barred from taking an ASCP BOC examination in the future.

 

Posting of Certificates on Social Media

Please inform your students not to post images of their wall certificates or ASCP BOC documentation on social media. While we appreciate their enthusiasm and pride in becoming certified, these images can be used by unscrupulous individuals to misrepresent themselves as being certified. To protect the integrity of ASCP BOC credentials and records, and for patient safety and welfare, it is important for individuals to protect their certificates from misuse. Please share the following with your students:

  • Do not share your wall certificate, score report, or ASCP Member ID card (if applicable) with anyone.
  • Do not post a copy or image of your wall certificate, score report, or ASCP Member ID card (if applicable) on the Internet or social media.

For complete information, please visit our website.

 

Integrity Pledges

Please remind your students not to share information from the examination with anyone. Several program directors have instituted Integrity Pledges that students sign which explicitly state that sharing of exam content is an Ethical Violation. Thank you to the following Program Directors for sharing their forms.

Notice Regarding National Credentialing Exam Integrity Diane Davis, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CMSCCM,SLSCM, Salisbury University

ASCP Examination Integrity Pledge Kathleen Finnegan, MS, MT(ASCP)SHCM, Stony Brook University

National Certification Examination Integrity Form Jerry Santiago, PhD, HTL(ASCP)QIHCCM, Florida State College at Jacksonville

 

Poster Presentation at CLMA's KnowledgeLab

Patricia A. Tanabe, MPA, MLS(ASCP)CM, Executive Director of the ASCP BOC, will be presenting a poster at CLMA's KnowledgeLab in Louisville, KY March 29 – 31. Ms. Tanabe's poster will highlight the importance of employers performing primary source verification of certification when hiring staff to protect patients.

 

EEV and PPR Information

Exam Eligibility Verification (EEV) Report*

Please remember to check your email for announcements of Examination Eligibility Verification (EEV) Reports to review. You may log in to your individual ASCP account from anywhere you have access to the Internet.

Your students will not be able to schedule appointments to take the examination until you sign off on their eligibility through this report. Students' 90-day window in which to schedule their exam begins after program completion is verified through the EEV.

Please note: If the program end date entered by the student is within a week after their actual program completion date, it does not need to be updated on the EEV. Updating a program end date can add up to a week to the processing time of the application, so please be sure that your students are aware of their correct program end date.

 

Reminder: 2020 Program Performance Report (PPR) Payment Due*

Emails with a link to access the 2020 Program Performance Report (PPR) invoices were sent to all program directors of NAACLS, CAAHEP, and ABHES accredited/approved programs, as well as documented ASCP BOC structured phlebotomy and MLA training programs, on Oct. 8, 2019. A reminder email was also sent December 10th. The invoice amount is $150 per program and covers the period of Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020. Payment instructions are included on the invoice.

Please note that your PPR invoice must be paid by Jan. 1, 2020, to access data for previous years. If you believe your invoice has been paid, please log in to your account to ensure that you have access to PPR data. If you have any questions, please contact us at PDInfo@ascp.org.

Instructions for Electronic Payments
If your Accounts Payable Department will be submitting payment electronically, please work with your colleagues to ensure that the order number is included with the electronic payment. To help ensure that your payment is applied to the correct order, please email PDInfo@ascp.org and provide the date the electronic payment was sent, the name that appears as the sender, tracking details, and any other identifying information. Not following these procedures may result in significant processing delays, during which time you will not have access to PPR data.

If you would like a receipt to confirm payment, please send your request to PDInfo@ascp.org; a receipt will be emailed to you within 3-5 business days.

 

Access to Program Performance Reports (PPR) for Faculty*

If there is someone other than the Program Director who should also have access to the PPR information, please email PDInfo@ascp.org with the name of the institution, school code, and name and email address of individuals who should be added. Please note that the Program Director will remain the only person able to access the EEV (Exam Eligibility Verification) to verify students' completion of the program.

 

Do You Have Students Missing From Your PPR or EEV Reports?*

When your students complete the online application, please remind them to use the drop-down list of programs to select the program they completed. Some schools have programs in multiple cities or states. Please advise your students to make sure they choose the correct program in the correct location. Students should not enter the name of the program manually as the school name will not be recognized, and these students' names will not appear on your PPR or EEV reports. If your program is not listed, please let us know immediately by contacting us at PDInfo@ascp.org.

 

Important Information for Students

Important Information for Students in California and New York

Please ensure that your students become certified and complete the examination for state licensure by applying for certification and licensure on the online application. If students apply for licensure only, they will be required to reapply for certification and take the certification examination. By applying for and taking the certification examination, their examination scores are acceptable for licensure in California and New York. All other state licensure requirements must be met to obtain state licensure. For additional information, see the CA and NY NAACLS student information form. For complete information, please visit our website: State Licensure.

 

Applicants Requesting Modifications Due to a Disability

If any of your students require a modification due to a disability, your students must notify our office in writing before they apply. Complete information is available on our website.

 

Official Transcripts*

If high school graduation, or college credits and/or a degree, are required to meet eligibility requirements, please remind your students to request an official transcript be mailed to the ASCP BOC office. This official transcript is required before examination scores are made available. Students should allow at least 10 business days after the ASCP BOC office has received the transcript for their examination scores to be released.

If necessary, multiple transcripts may be submitted to verify that all academic requirements have been met. Please view additional information under "Official Transcript."

 

Mailing Documentation Forms and Payment*

We understand that some programs pay the application fee for multiple students at one time. For complete information, see Program Director's section of the website. Payment information, invoices, and checks, should be mailed to:

ASCP Board of Certification
3462 Eagle Way
Chicago, IL 60678

All documentation forms submitted as verification of an applicant's training or work experience must be mailed to the ASCP BOC office through regular mail:

ASCP Board of Certification
33 West Monroe St., Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60603

Documentation forms that are sent along with payment information to the Eagle Way address will not be forwarded to the ASCP BOC office.

All mail is processed by the ASCP BOC in the order that it is received. For complete information regarding documentation, see our website.

 

Get Involved!

Program Directors Group on Facebook

If you haven't already, please join the ASCP BOC Program Director's Group on Facebook. The group is for directors of NAACLS, CAAHEP, and ABHES-accredited or approved laboratory programs, as well as education and clinical coordinators and faculty, whose students seek ASCP BOC certification. Supported by volunteers with several years of program experience, the group aims to become the program director's resource for information and support.

 

BOC Facebook Page

In addition to the Program Director's Group, the ASCP BOC also has a Facebook page. You can follow the page to see the weekly BOC Study Guide question of the week and to follow what is happening with the ASCP BOC.

 

Certification Exam Committees and Qualification Work Groups

All BOC Examination Committees and Work Groups consist of laboratory professionals representing broad geographic regions of the United States and laboratory facilities of various types and sizes. They are responsible for the development, maintenance, and evaluation of exam items, as well as setting the standards for exams and performing job task analysis. To review the current Exam Committee and Work Group openings and submit an application, please visit the BOC Volunteer page.

 

Housekeeping

Understanding ASCP BOC Certification Examinations

Brief explanations on a variety of topics related to the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) certification examinations are available at Understanding ASCP BOC Certification Examinations.

 

How to Locate Your Certification Number

If you need to locate your certification number, you may access it by logging into your ASCP account and clicking on "Home Page" under "My BOC Activities." Then click on the "View Certifications" link.

If you require primary source verification of your certification, you can place an order through our website at Verification of Certification. There is a $16 charge for this service.

 

ASCP Board of Certification Contacts:

Please contact the following individuals if you have questions or concerns regarding:

U.S. application processing

Angela Nunn at Angela.Nunn@ascp.org

Program Director inquiries (U.S. only)

PDInfo@ascp.org

International certification

Angela Sreckovic at Angela.Sreckovic@ascp.org

Share eLinks
Feel free to forward eLinks to Education Coordinators or other program officials who might benefit from the information included in this Newsletter.

Having Difficulty Receiving Emails?
Please add ascp@site02.ascpmail.org to your "safe" email list. This will ensure that emails regarding Program Performance Reports (PPRs), Examination Eligibility Verification (EEV) reports, and this newsletter will be delivered directly to you, and not to spam or junk mail.

Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions or comments on the information contained in this issue, please email us at PDInfo@ascp.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

*UNITED STATES ONLY