How to Earn CE Credits from ASCP: A Comprehensive Guide

The ASCP Board of Certification offers its certified and current professionals’ various opportunities to earn CE credits for their certificate renewal.

Here is how to earn EC credits from ASCP:

• Subscribe to the ASCP online CE education products designed for lab professionals, pathologists, and residents.
• Serve ASCP communities to participate in many programs like Career Ambassador
• Attend ASCP live events, including annual meetings and live webinars
• Become a member of ASCP to double your benefits from ASCP
• Join ASCP publications as an author

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC) presents credentials to the entire team of laboratory medicine and pathology.

But these certifications are only active for three.

After this time, you have to participate in the ASCP Credentials Maintenance Program (CMP), which revives credentials for the upcoming three years.

To participate in the CMP ASCP, you have to earn continuing education units to submit a declaration for your recertification.

Here, we are going to offer a comprehensive guide on how to earn CE credits from ASCP.  Hopefully, you will get effective information to manage your CMP.

Understanding the ASCP CE Requirements

ASCP’s mission is to provide patients with the best possible treatments.

Therefore, it interacts with its certified professionals through the recertification renewal process.

It is a continuing cycle that repeats after every three years.

You need CMP points to make your recertification process successful and update your certification.

ASCP determines 36 CMP points for its many credentials and 9 for its few.

You have to get these points in your area of specialization, medical ethics, lab and patient safety, and laboratory operation.

For example, if you have an MLS ASCP (medical laboratory scientist) certificate, you need to earn 36 points.

36 CMP point distribution:

• Blood banking, hematology, chemistry, and microbiology: 2 points in each (8 points)
• Lab operation-related work like molecular diagnostics, education, management, immunology, etc: 26 points
• Medical ethics (DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), compliance, HIPAA, confidentiality, sexual harassment, IRB, etc.): 1 point
• Patient and lab safety: 1 point

You must get these points and send a declaration before the date of your certification expiration.

Otherwise, you have to pay a double application fee to submit your declaration with expired credentials.

The CMP application fee is $95 for all certifications, but it is $125 if you fail to send your application on time.

ASCP Online Learning Portal

The ASCP Board of Certification offers a wide variety of online products that are managed through the online learning portal.

These products are available 365/24/7 and serve laboratory professionals, residents, and pathologists.

All these products sharpen your skills, keep you up-to-date with the field, and provide CE credits toward your credentials maintenance.

The ASCP online learning portal offers the following products:

• ASCP Case Reports
• CE packages
• LabQ
• Lab Management University
• University of Pathology Informatics
• On Deman Webcast
• Patient Safety
• Leadership Institute

How to Earn CE Credits From ASCP?

The ASCP BOC determines the selection of online education courses and self-study resources that best fit your continuing education credit requirements.

These courses are:

ASCP Case Report

• It is a self-learning tool that emphasizes the major areas of clinical and anatomic pathology.
• Work on real-life scenarios that are published every year
• It provides 2 CMLE (Continuing Medical Laboratory Education)/CME (Continuing Medical Education) credits per exercise.

ASCP Patient Safety

• Offer case-based safety practices to pathologists and lab professionals to minimize preventable patient harm.
• Packed with 8 online modules on patient safety
• Each module offers 1 continuing education unit
• Modules 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8 present CMP points for medical ethics.

CE (Continuing Education) Packages

• CE packages include One-Year Unlimited Online CE Packages and Multi-credit Online CE Packages.
• Online-Year Online CE Packages offer you unlimited CE points but you have to complete it within one year.
• Multi-credit online CE packages come with a bundle of courses that you can get according to your needs.

LabQ

• LabQ is an online study tool comparing  18 real-life case studies.
• It offers 2 CMLE credits per exercise
• 2 credit hours go to lab safety and patient

Inside the Lab Podcast

• Lab Podcast covers the current topics related to lab medicine and pathology.
• It offers free CE credits per exercise

Resident Question Bank

• It is a self-study tool designed for pathologists practicing.
• The resident question bank comprises hundreds of multiple-choice questions
• It fulfills the requirements of CC (Previously MOC)

MLS Online Review Course

• It is the best preparation tool for ASCP medical lab scientists.
• It comprises 10 interactive modules; 9 modules encompass the MLS ASCP Prep syllabus and 1 module offers information related to the exam process.

Virtual Pathology Grand Round

• Its lectures cover the content of clinical pathology, anatomic pathology, and lab medicine.
• VPGR offers CME/CMLE credits
• Once you complete the VPGR, a link is provided to claim credits

BOC Interactive Practice Exam

• It is also the best study tool for U.S. and international medical lab scientists.
• Packed with 25,000 questions.
• Follow the real exam format
• You can also set a timer to overcome these questions to learn time management.

How to Earn CE Credits from ASCP: Some Additional Ways

The ASCP Board of Certification not only provides online education courses for continuing education credits but also other activities that lead you to get CE points.

These activities are:

• Join ASCP Committee
• Serve ASCP Community
• ASCP Publications

Join ASCP Committee

The ASCP establishes various committees for its members; you can join these committees to get the CE credits.

These committees are:

• Social Media Team
• ASCP Product Development
• OC Exam Committee
• Governance and member councils

ASCP Publication

The ASCP also accesses its members on its publication.

You can write journals or articles for ASCP publications to earn CEUs.

ASCP publications are

• Laboratory Medicine (Its articles are related to LabQ, science, media review, administrative, management, special reports, and case studies.)
• The American Journal of Clinical Pathology (Its articles may be reviews, originals, and editorials.)
• Critical Value: (Article Types: Its articles are related to pathology and laboratory medicine.)

Serve ASCP Community

You can also meet your CMP requirements by serving the ASCP community.

ASCP Communities are:

• Choosing Wisely + ASCP
• ASCP Policy Efforts
• Supporting Public Health Worldwide
• Career Ambassador 2.o
• Partners of Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in Africa
• ASCP Patient Champions

ASCP Live Events

ASCP live events also present you with CE units if you attend them.

ASCP live events are

• ASCP annual meeting
• ASCP webinars
• ASCP roundtables

Benefits of ASCP Membership

Among many plans on how to earn CE credits from ASCP; the one that offers you incredible benefits is ASCP membership.

• ASCP membership connects you with more than 100, 000 pathologists and lab professionals.
• 6 online CME credits for your recertification
• Exclusive discounts on educational courses that offer you CE credits
• Access to ASCP live events that add continuing credits to your ASCP prospect
• Access to ASCP publications
• Opportunity to win scholarships and many ASCP awards
• Odds to participate in best career-changing programs like “Mastership.”

Navigating the ASCP CE Activities Lists

• You can find the ASCP activities by following the instructions:
• Login to the ASCP website
• Under all ASCP activities, choose the option “Learning” to access the ASCP CE courses.
• Click on “Online Education,” here you will find the course that the board presents for continuing education.
• Choose one or more that meet your certification and recertification prerequisites.

Navigating the ASCP CMP

To understand the ASCP CMP points:

• Open your ASCP account
• Under all ASCP activities, click on the “Board of Certification.”
• Here, you will see the option “Stay Credentialed.” Click on it.
• A new page opens in front of you that presents detailed information about CMP.
• To know your certification CMP point, click on “U.S. Certification” or “International Certification.”
• Choose your specific certification and get information about CMP points.

Final Verdict for How to Earn CE Credits from ASCP

If you are looking for information on how to earn CE credits from ASCP, then ASCP offers complete services for all your needs.

Whether your aim is to get the ASCP certification, or you want to get CE credits for your recertification, you will find all the resources from there.

When it comes to how to earn CE credits from ASCP, it provides online courses and activities that help you a lot to meet your goal.

You must purchase online education courses from ASCP to get continuing education units.

Besides this, you also participate in other activities like ASCP publications, communities, committees, and live events to maximize your chances of getting CE units.

Ascp membership minimizes the cost of many products that help you earn CMP points.

Make sure to utilize all resources to make your ASCP recertification cycle successful.

FAQs for How to Earn ASCP CE Credits