Affordable ASCP CE Option: Ace Your CMP Requirements

Whether you are a pathologist or laboratory technologist, if you are ASCP certified, you need to earn continuing education to stay updated in the field and meet the requirements for the recertification process.

What an amazing thing if you know about the affordable ASCP CE option for your certification maintenance.

Here are some affordable ASCP CE options

• Choose the ASCP online continuing education courses that offer you free credits.
• Join ASCP membership, which not only provides you with CEUs but also reduces the cost of all other CE packages.
• Get the credits from non-ASCP resources like CAP (Colleges of American Pathologists), which offers you free credits to complete some of its CE courses.
• Join the ASCP committee, communities, publications, and live events where you do not need to pay anything to get CMP points.

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC) developed the CMP (Credential Maintenance Program) for all its certifications in 2004.

The ASCP BOC allocates some CMP points (36 for many and 9 for few certificates) for all certifications that are necessary to meet the eligibility requirements.

The board also provides CE resources, including CE online courses, certificate programs, and other activities to earn the credits to update your certificate.

Here we will explain the resources that the ASCP Board of Certification determines and also tell you some affordable ASCP CE options for your convenience.

Understanding the ASCP CE Requirements

The ASCP CE requirements are the CMP points or CE credits that you have to earn from ASCP or non-ASCP activities to fulfill the prerequisites of your certification maintenance.

The ASCP certificates are only active for three of getting them.

Expire certificates have no value so you have to activate your credentials every three years.

To take part in the Credential Maintenance Program, you have to satisfy some CMP points that you need to get in your area of specialization, lab operation, medical ethics, and lab safety.

For example, if you are ASCP-certified and have the MLS ASCP certificate, you need to earn 36 points.

• You need to get 26 points in lab operations work, including education, molecular diagnostics, immunology, etc.
• 2 points in the area of specialty that  are for MLS ASCP are chemistry, blood banking, hematology, and microbiology (2 CMP points in each)
• You have to earn 1 point in medical ethics ( compliance, HIPAA, IRB, DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion), sexual harassment, etc.)
• 1 point in patient safety and lab.

Affordable ASCP CE Options

The ASCP BOC provides many opportunities for you to improve your learning and earn continuing education units.

You must choose the affordable ASPC CE option wisely that not only meets your recertification requirements but also alleviates your cost.

Select Free Courses

• The ASCP BOC presents more than 500 CE courses to maintain your continuing education and offer you credits: try to get the free courses.
• Inside the Lab Podcast is the free ASCP education tool that offers your CE credits without any charges.
• ASCP LabQ also presents 36 CMP points only for $99.

ASCP Membership

• You should be a member of ASCP if you are looking for affordable ASCP CE options.
• Membership offers you 6 CMP points that you can use to update your certificate.
• Membership also reduces the cost of all the products, such as for ASCP Patient Safety (educational tool): the member price is $175 and the non-member price is $250.

Utilize the Other Activities

• Try to utilize all other activities that add CE credits to your ASCP prospect without demanding any cost.
• These activities include attending ASCP live events, seminars, etc., serving the ASCP communities, and authoring ASCP publications.

Consider Non-ASCP Activities

The ASCP offers you a list of non-ASCP CE providers that are approved by the board, you can get credits from them.

• College of American Pathologists (CAP) provides you with free credits in case your hospital has an account and offers you access.
• ARUP (Associated Regional and University Pathologists) offers free continuing education units by attending its videos lectures, webinars, etc.

ASCP Unlimited Online CE Packages

The ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) offers unlimited CE packages that are managed through the online learning portal.

Some CE packages of ASCP:

ASCP Case Report

• It is a self-learning tool that focuses on the eight different series of clinical and anatomic pathology.
• It explains the content with whole slide images and high-resolution digital images.
• Offer you CME and CMLE credits for your continuing certification.

CE Packages

• These on-demand CE packages comprise muti-credits online CE packages and one-year unlimited online packages that offer affordable ASCP CE options.
• One-year unlimited CE packages are only valid for one year, you have to finish them before the purchase date (within one year) to get credits.
• But multi-credit online CE packages are flexible, you can use them according to your timetable.

ASCP LabQ

• It is also a self-study tool that exposes 18 real-life case studies and demonstrates to lab professionals how to resolve lab problems.
• It allocates 2 points for patient safety and laboratory
• All cases include lab results, digital images, tables, and reference links.
• It also offers 6 hours of credits for some specific areas, including hematology, molecular diagnostics, clinical immunology, microbiology, clinical chemistry, and transfusion medicine.

ASCP Patient Safety

• It is designed for pathologists and lab professionals to educate them about patient safety.
• This tool consists of 8 modules and each module offers you one CE credit.
• Some modules are specific to offer the CEUs for medical ethics.

Virtual Pathology Grand Rounds

• It concentrates on lab medicine, clinical pathology, and anatomic pathology topics.
• After completion of VPGR, you will get the CME/CMLE credits.

How to Access the ASCP CE Packages

• Login to the ASCP dashboard
• After login, you will see the ASCP activities.
• Click on “Learning” to access the ASCP online CE packages
• In the upper left corner, you will the “Education,” Click on it.
• After clicking, the screen displays all ASCP CE package choices

Alternative Opportunities for Affordable ASCP CE Options

You can consider some other alternative opportunities with ASCP online CE packages to get the credits to make your CMP successful.

These opportunities are:

• ASCP Committees
• ASCP Communities
• ASCP Publications
• ASCP Live Events

ASCP Committees

If you join the ASCP committees, you will get the credits.

You can join the following committees:

• BOC Exam Committee
• Social Media Team
• Governance and Member Councils
• ASCP Product Development

ASCP Communities

If you serve the ASCP communities, the board provides you with continuing education credits as appreciation.

The ASCP communities that you can join are:

• ASCP Policy Efforts
• Career Ambassadors 2.0
• Choosing Wisely + ASCP
• ASCP Patient Champions
• Supporting Public Health Worldwide

ASCP Publications

To meet your CE credit requirements, you must write articles and journals in ASCP publications.

Some ASCP publications

• Critical Value
• American Journals for Clinical Pathology
• Laboratory Medicine

ASCP Live Events

• To earn CE credits and enhance knowledge related to the field, you must attend ASCP live events like annual meetings, seminars, etc.

Preparing for the ASCP Exam with CE Courses

The board presents many CE courses that help you earn your ASCP certification.

These courses include:

MLS ASCP Review Course

• This is a complete course that is designed for medical lab scientists for their certification preparation.
• This course comprises 10 interactive modules; 9 modules navigate the exam syllabus and 1 offers information about the exam process.

Resident Question Bank

• The ASCP Resident Questions Bank is a comprehensive, online, self-assessment educational tool that works for residents.
• It is a bundle of multiple-choice questions that describe the content with images, references, and educational feedback.
• It meets the prerequisites for continuing certification (CC).
• Many questions come with whole slide images
• Whether you want to get easy questions first or tough ones, it has the ability to offer questions according to your preferences.

BOC Interactive Practice Questions

• It is available in three-volume BOC Interactive Practice Questions, ASCP BOC Study Guide, and MLS Online Review Course.
• Best for ASCP medical lab scientist
• A bundle of 25,000 questions
• Workable on desktop and mobile
• BOC Interactive Practice Questions has some additional features, like after answering the questions, you can check the answers of other peers.

Final Verdict for Affordable ASCP CE Option

The ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) is a complete organization that not only offers certification to entire teams of lab medicines but also presents resources for their certification preparation, recertification, and career development.

When it comes to earning affordable ASCP CE options, there is no alternative to ASCP, which takes care of all professional needs.

From earning certification to certification maintenance, the board offers you all the necessary resources that are enough for professional career development.

The ASCP continuing education options comprise plus 500 packages that are flexible to meet your busy schedule.

Besides this, Ascp membership comes with exclusive advantages that present special discounts on educational products to make them affordable for you.

Read more about tracking CE records here?

FAQs for Affordable ASCP CE Options