ANCDS Board Certification Process

To become Board Certified, candidates must complete two written clinical case studies and participate in an oral discussion of the cases.

Applicants must complete the Board Certification process within two years from the approval of their application. The certification process involves the following steps:

• Step 1: Submission of the first Case Study (see details) – The first case study must be submitted for review within three months of the applicant’s notification of approval of Candidacy.  The written Case Study will be blindly reviewed by a Review Team consisting of three Board Certified members who will rate the case as “Pass,” “Revise,” or “Does not meet standards.”
• Step 2: Submission of the second Case Study (see details) – The second Case Study cannot be submitted until the first Case Study has been deemed a “Pass” and must be submitted within three months of the notification that the Candidate has passed the first case study. 
• Step 3: Oral Presentation and Discussion (see details) – After successful completion of both case studies, the candidate will orally present typically one of the cases to the Review team for discussion. The oral presentation must be arranged within one month of the notification that the Candidate has passed both case studies. 
• Final Evaluation: The Written Case Studies and the Oral Presentation and Discussion will be judged as a whole and will be evaluated as “Pass” or “Does not meet standards”.  The evaluation result will be conveyed to the Candidate at that time, and written verification of the result will be sent to the Candidate.

The Certification process is confidential such that cases are blindly reviewed.  Only the Chair of the Board of Clinical Certification knows the Candidate’s identity until Step 3 of the process, the presentation step.  Additionally, the Candidate does not know the identity of the reviewers until the presentation step.  The identity of a Candidate who does not meet the standards at any stage of the process will remain confidential.

Upon achieving Certification, the individual will receive a Certificate attesting to the attainment of Board Certification and will be listed in the official ANCDS Directory as Board Certified.  Upon request, a press release about the individual’s Board Certification can be prepared for distribution to press outlets designated by the individual.  These may include in-house publications or state association newsletters, as well as papers for general circulation.  In addition, upon request, an individualized letter will be sent to employers, colleagues, and referral sources identified by the holder of Board Certification describing the individual’s accomplishment.

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