Is CC Tracking a Headache? Let ASCP’s Portal Be the Cure.

Pathologists who are under Continuing Certification (CC) (formerly Maintenance of Certification) should be thinking ahead to fulfilling the required 20 Continuing Medical Education (CME). During this COVID-19 pandemic, it can be difficult to focus one’s energies on making sure they have fulfilled those credits.  

“We should be thinking in advance, but sometimes time constraints preclude us from doing everything we need to do,” says Laura Spruill, MD, PhD, a practicing pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

A surgical pathologist focusing on breast and genitourinary, she completes the bulk of her CMEs by attending tumor boards. When it comes to self-assessment module (SAM) credits, she gets all of those through ASCP. 

“ASCP’s portal keeps track of how many SAMs credits I have, and it will tell me within my two-year cycle deadline how many I need,” she says, adding, “It’s a really convenient way to stay on top of how many credits I have.”

Dr. Spruill added the unlimited CE (continuing education) package to her ASCP membership, which allows her unlimited access to online education. “I can go through as many ASCP activities as I want that are included in the unlimited CE package at no extra cost. The vast majority of education is included with unlimited CE, and each activity seems to offer one or two SAMs credits. It usually involves reading a paper or watching a short online lecture and answering questions on it. It’s a convenient way to fulfill these requirements on my own time.”

Another way is to participate in the ASCP Annual Meeting, which will be held virtually this year. There, you can get all the CC support you need. You can benefit from hundreds of hours of education in dozens of topic areas, allowing you to earn CME and SAMs CME credits. The pathologist-focused content allows you to choose from various sessions featuring education in the fastest growing, most challenging areas in pathology practice.

In addition to providing a portal for tracking credits and products to help satisfy CC requirements, ASCP participates in an initiative of the American Board of Pathology (ABPath) and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to ease ABPath diplomates’ reporting to ABPath. As a part of this initiative, ASCP reports physician participation (after they “opt in” via their ASCP online profile) in ASCP CME/SAMs activities and CC Part IV activities to ABPath through the ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System, removing this responsibility from ABPath diplomates.

Learn more about the many ways ASCP helps pathologists keep up with their CC requirements by clicking here.