December 5, 2019 Issue No. 8 Verification of Eligibility for CSMLS Certification Exams To be eligible to write the CSMLS National Certification Examination (Exam), candidates must have successfully completed all program requirements a minimum of two (2) weeks before the Exam date or within the past twelve (12) months of graduation, never having previously registered for the same Exam. This includes the completion of the clinical placement portion of the program. The eligibility of ALL exam candidates is verified prior to all Exams. Exam candidates from EQual accredited Canadian medical laboratory training programs are conditionally accepted into an Exam session until their eligibility has been verified by their program through the Verification of Eligibility form, which must be done a minimum of two (2) weeks prior to the exam date. The CSMLS and Exam candidates rely on training programs to promptly and carefully complete the Verification of Eligibility form. This form verifies individual Exam candidates who are progressing towards the successful completion of their program. It also identifies Exam candidates who are not eligible to challenge the Exam. Exam candidates who do not meet our eligibility requirements will have their Exam registration cancelled. If we are notified of this less than fourteen (14) days before the Exam date, the candidate may lose their full Exam fee, as our Exam policy states (see Exam Handbook). This is why it is so important for programs to complete the forms as soon as they are received from the CSMLS Exam Administrator. Reminder — CSMLS Name is Copyrighted This is a gentle reminder that “CSMLS” and “Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science” are copyrighted names. CSMLS does not endorse their use in any course title or description at any institution. We ask any institution who currently has our name in a course title or description to cease and desist by January 1, 2020. Thank you. 2020 Certification Exam Fee IncreaseBe sure to provide your students with the listed 2020 exam dates. Fee increases for the 2020 June and October exams will be posted on our website in January 2020. The following certification exam fee increases will apply for the 2020 June and October exam sessions. 2020 June and October Exam Fees* Educator Committee The Educator Committee met on November 22, 2019, to discuss issues that are important to the educator community. A meeting summary will be posted in the Educators Hub section of our website once it is available. National Report Card The CSMLS provides, collects and reports data on the examination performance of accredited medical laboratory programs in Canada. The report specifies how many candidates from each program challenged the CSMLS certification examination and the pass rate (the percentage of candidates that passed the exam) for each individual program. In order to provide valid comparisons of graduates from accredited training programs, the report only includes performance data of first-time examination candidates. It does not include any supplemental exam candidates’ results or data from other exam candidates, such as bridging programs or prior learning assessment eligibility. You can view the National Report Card here. Ethics on Demand Card Game We want to support open and honest communication about ethical issues that our members may encounter in the clinical environment. To do this, we’ve created an ethical dilemma card game for everyone to play, including you and your students. The Ethics on Demand Card Game is made for students and working professionals. Each player takes a turn imagining themselves in an ethical dilemma and describing how they would solve the situation. Mental Health Tools to Support Students Mental health affects everyone, especially students. That’s why ensuring students are mentally healthy is the priority of many educators. Accreditation Position Statement On November 25, 2019, CSMLS released the statement “Accreditation of Medical Laboratory Science Education Programs” regarding third-party accreditation's role in upholding the quality continuum for each medical laboratory professional’s journey from student to practitioner. Read the full statement here. Happy Holidays The Certification team at CSMLS hopes your holiday season and New Year will be filled with joy and laughter. |