During my first year as the CEO of the NCCAOM, I have had the privilege to hear and learn from so many different members of our profession to include our applicants, candidates, school leaders and of course, our valued NCCAOM national board-certified acupuncturists.
One of these areas identified for review was the NCCAOM Exam Retake Policy Limit. As part of our stakeholder feedback-gathering process, the NCCAOM researched best practices of multiple health care organizations, surveyed state regulatory boards, captured public comments and obtained legal advice to develop a retake policy that protects the public without causing undue hardship to applicants.
Until now, candidates for NCCAOM certification have been allowed a total of five (5) attempts to successfully pass an examination (all formats and /or languages inclusive); however, candidates who failed an exam after the fifth attempt were no longer able to retake that exam. After gathering input through a public comment period, the NCCAOM Eligibility Committee, in consultation with National Commission of Certifying Agencies (NCCA), set to work on reviewing and revising this policy.
I am happy to announce that with the support of the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners, we are removing the maximum cap limit of five times that an applicant can retake the certification exam. This policy change takes place in December 2020 and will affect several different applicant groups within the pipeline of certification, each with differing scenarios and different criteria for retesting to ensure candidate preparedness and exam security.
The NCCAOM will afford additional test attempts to those who meet the specific criteria and who have petitioned the NCCAOM with their request. Each request will be reviewed for compliance by the staff and the candidate will be notified of the decision. More details are available on the NCCAOM website.
We would like to thank everyone who provided us with valuable feedback throughout our public comment period including the members of the public, who were mostly in favor of the proposed change. The NCCAOM is committed to supporting our applicants and diplomates by ensuring streamlined and consistent certification and recertification policies and procedures. We are working hard to support you in your work through the NCCAOM national certification standards, our Code of Ethics, and our mission: To assure the safety and well-being of the public and to advance the professional practice of acupuncture and Oriental medicine by establishing and promoting national evidence-based standards of competence and credentialing.
Mina Larson is the chief executive officer of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.