ASCP Education Credits: Your Complete Guide to CMP

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC) takes many steps to offer candidates ASCP education credits.

The ASCP BOC is the world’s best organization that offers many certificates to lab pathologists.

To get these certificates, you need to earn ASCP certification points.

The ASCP certification credits are CE points required to renew you credentials for another 3 years through the Credential Maintenance Program (CPM).

The CMP points can be obtained through various resources but mainly through ASCP course available in your ASCP BOC dashboard. 

These credits are essential for professional developments, meeting CMP credits, and enhance chances to become ASCP certified.

After getting the ASCP certification, you will get a medical lab professional license to perform your duty.

Here, you will get detailed information about the ASCP education credit. Besides this, we will offer a brief overview of ASCP and non-ASCP CE credits.

Understanding the ASCP Certification

The ASCP is the world’s largest certification agency and has been offering its services since 1928.

At its start, it offered ASCP certification only for U.S. lab technologists.

With time, it grew, and now the ASCP organization is offering certification worldwide.

No matter whether a technologist, technician, scientist, or specialist, it rewards certifications for all.

More than 25 credentials are offered to medical lab professionals by the ASCP Board of Certification.

By getting ASCP certification, you will have better networking opportunities in your country or outside the country.

ASCP certifications are enough for career advancement.

Through the ASCP, you will gain strong knowledge and skills that will improve your experience and offer you many job opportunities.

ASCP educational activities are the best source that makes you perfect in your field.

Check ASCP Preparation?

Navigating the ASCP Official Website

To approach ASCP CE accreditation, you have to create an account on the ASCP official website.

But if you already have your account, then follow the below guidelines to get information about the ASCP education point.

• Login to your account on the ASCP official website.
• Scroll down the page
• Here you will see all ASCP activities, including “About the BOC,” “Stay Credentials,” “Get Credentials,” and some more.
• Click on Stay Credentials and explore it.
• Here, the CMP page will open in front of you. Click on “Information about CMP.”
• After exploring “Information about CMP,” you will see a few options, including “CMP Overview,” “Credential Status,” and “How to Manage Points.”
• Explore “How to Manage Points” and click on “How to Earn Points.”
• Here you will find all the information related to ASCP education credits.

ASCP Certification Handbook and Guidelines

The ASCP certification handbook is a complete source of information related to ASCP activities.

In this ASCP certification handbook and guidelines, you will find information about the ASCP certification, certification eligibility requirements, and how to apply for the exam.

Furthermore, this handbook is the ultimate source for delivering information about ASCP-accredited education, qualifications, and ASCP learning credits.

The ASCP handbook presents guidance about the verification of education and experience.

In addition, you also know the process of applying for credentials.

Furthermore, you also know the complete details of the certification examination and qualification examination.

The ASCP certification handbook and guidelines also offer comprehensive details regarding the ASCP CE requirements.

In short, you will find all that you want to know about ASCP and its activities.

The Role of Education Credits in ASCP Certification

For ASCP certification, the role of education credits is very powerful.

If you have a higher education credit, your chances of getting ASCP certification are higher than candidates with low education credits.

Besides this, you will meet the ASCP certification and renewal process CE credit requirement easily.

ASCP learning credits are also essential for professional development.

Education credits help candidates learn about the latest technologies that they can apply in their day-t0-day jobs.

These credits assist professionals in learning excellent techniques to treat patients that enhance their professional development.

Education credits keep you up-to-date with the latest technologies and research, which is an excellent action to move ahead in your medical lab field.

Furthermore, credits expand your value and enhance your chances of getting more job opportunities.

In addition, education credits make you elite from the crowd by proving that you are the only one who meets all requirements with great credits.

With higher education credits, your chance of getting ASCP certification credits increases many times.

Continuing Education for ASCP Certification

After getting ASCP certification, the cycle of your learning starts lifelong; that is called ASCP continuing education.

Through this program, the ASCP Board of Certification adds the latest technologies and teaches professionals new techniques related to their field.

To access this program, you have to earn ASCP education credits, which are also called ASCP continuing competency units.

Following are some activities that help you meet the ASCP CE requirements.

• Some continuing education courses, including AACC, ASCP CMLE, and ACCME (1 credit hour: 1 CMP point)
• Employer-offered course: 1 credit hour and 1 CMP point
• Institutional (college/university) coursework related to the laboratory: 1 quarter hour: 10 CMP points, and 1 semester hour: 15 CMP points
• Completion of BOC certification (Higher level education): 25 points (you cannot use these points for the recertification process for the category in which you will get them.)
• ASCP BOC employer assessments form: 2 CMP points per year
• Clinical teaching documentation must use the ASCP BOC documentation form: 1 CMP point/year
• Research or presentation: 3 CMP points
• Editing a book: 5 points
• Presenting posters: 3 points per year
• Authoring a book: (under 300 pages: 14 points; over 300 pages: 21 points; and book with chapter 7 points)
• Master’s thesis: 4 CMP points
• Doctoral dissertation: 10 CMP points
• Serving on committees: 2 CMP points per year
• Qualification workshop or serving of active BOC committees: 3 points/per year
• Role of the training programs (CAAHEP, NAACLS) or on-site paper/inspector for lab approval: 2 points per year

Things to Remember

Because there are a lot of continuing education programs present, the ASCP BOC will not respond for individual program approval.

Only a program will be accepted by ASCP BOC that meets the above-described criteria in ASCP credit hours.

Certification Renewal Process

The ASCP certification renewal process updates the candidates’ certificates for three years.

Participation in ASCP certification renewal is necessary to stay current in the field.

Besides this, the ASCP certification expires after three years of getting it.

To renew certificates, candidates have to take part in the renewal process.

ASCP education credits are very important for certification renewal.

These credits help meet the requirements of ASCP CE credits.

For certification renewal, candidates have to earn some CMP points to send a declaration.

The ASCP Board of Certification fixes these points for each certificate.

You must earn these ASCP CE credits within the three years in which your certificate is active.

For many certificates, you need to achieve 36 points like MLS, MLT, HT, etc.

For some certificates, you need to get 9 points, like PBT ASCP.

To check your certificate status and CMP point, you must follow the following guidelines:

• Login to ASCP BOC official website
• Open “MY Education” and explore “Check Progress.” Here, you can see your certificate’s expiration date and current status.
• Enter your ASCP credits and non-ASCP credits
• After meeting all points, you must send your declaration to the Board of Certification for review.

For ASCP CE Credits

• All the credits that you will gain from ASCP are automatically inserted into your ASCP CE transcript.
• The CMP declaration process tracks all necessary credits automatically.

For Non-ASCP CE Credits

You have a lot of options to earn non-ASCP CE credits. From subscriptions to online courses or programs, teleconferences, or workshops, you can earn them.

You must enter the credits manually into the online ASCP transcript that you get from non-ASCP CE providers. Here are some non-ASCP CE provider.

• Clinical Laboratory Management Association (CLMA)
• American Medical Association (AMA)
• American Association of Pathologist’s Assistants (AAPA)
• AABB
• Continuing Medical Education Association (CMEA)
• American Society of Hematology (ASH)
• College of American Pathologists (CAP)
• Association of Genetics Technologists (AGT)

Educational Institutions Offering ASCP Credits

The following educational institutions or programs offer ASCP education credits:

ASCP Patient Safety

• List price: $250
• Member price: $175

This program consists of eight modules on patient safety. It offers 1 CE credit per module.

Besides this, modules 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8 also present 1 credit for medical ethics.

ASCP LabQ

LabQ Clinical Laboratory Volume Online

• List price: $109
• Member price: $99

LabQ Histology Volume Online

• List Price: $49
• Member Price: $39

LabQ Phlebotomy Volume Online

• List Price: $45
• Member Price: $40.50

The LabQ offers 2 credit hours for lab safety and patient.

It presents 6 hours of credit in clinical chemistry, hematology, molecular diagnostics, clinical immunology, microbiology, and transfusion medicine.

After completing the post-test, you can get 36 hours of CMLE credit (two credits per exercise)

The ASCP Board of Certification also delivers its students CE packages (One-Year Unlimited Online CE Packages and Multi-Credit Online CE Packages).

These CE packages help you a lot to earn ASCP education points.

You can access these programs by following the below guidelines:

• Open your ASCP BOC account
• Click the option “Education.”
• After exploring, you can access programs that help you earn credits.
• Click on your desired one and purchase it.

Final Verdicts for ASCP Education Credits

ASCP education credits are a key tool that streamlines your path to the ASCP certification and recertification process.

Besides this, ASCP education points help grow your career and offer you many opportunities to learn the latest technologies.

The ASCP BOC presents many programs that help you earn these CE requirements.

You also get CE credits from non-ASCP activities.

(FAQs) for ASCP Education Credits