Frequently Asked Questions
NCCAA maintains a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page to help keep AAs informed about certification issues and to respond to practitioners' questions when the information will be of interest to practitioners throughout the United States. Specific questions about applications or practitioner status will always be answered in a confidential communication.
Q #1
From a AA practitioner: “Will the CDQ Examination be offered in January and how do I apply?”
No, the CDQ Examination will not be offered in January. The Certifying Examination will be offered for the first time in January 2009; the application period for this exam was 15 July to 30 August 2008. The CDQ Examination continues to be offered in June.
Q#2
From an AA practitioner: “Please send me an application for the CDQ exam.”
Each practitioner eligible for a CDQ Examination will receive an application packet at the beginning of the application period, 01 November of the year preceding the exam year. It is not necessary to request an application, but it is necessary to ensure that NCCAA has your current mailing address. Every year, about five percent of application packets are returned to NCCAA because there was no forwarding address for the practitioner. Don’t let this happen to you! If you are not sure that NCCAA has your current address, simply send the information again.
Q#3
From the Business Office: “What is the single most troublesome aspect of communicating with AA practitioners?”
Failure to notify NCCAA of a change of address or change of name causes the most clerical headaches. Please remember to inform NCCAA of these changes.
This is especially problematic for Certifying Examination candidates who may be away from their home mailing address for extended rotations at other sites. It is imperative that you have your mail forwarded or picked up and handled by a delegated person if you are away, so that NCCAA can inform you of the date and mechanism for exam registration and to notify you in case your application is incomplete in any way.
Q#4
From an AA practitioner: “I sent my change of address to the AAAA four times and yet NCCAA mail is still coming to my old address. Why can’t you people get this straight?”
NCCAA neither receives nor shares mailing address information with any other organization, such as AAAA, practice groups, state boards, or hospitals. You must communicate with each agency individually. When you contact NCCAA, please include both your former and new addresses, and the date the change will become effective.
Q#5
From the Business Office: “What causes delays in processing exam applications and CME registration?”
Waiting until just before a due date causes significant problems for both the practitioner and the Business Office.
In 2008, 16% of examination applications were incomplete or unsatisfactory in some way. Please leave enough time to ensure that NCCAA has time to receive and process your application and inform you of any deficiencies by return mail, so that you have time to correct them and return the completed document to NCCAA before the deadline. Power can fail, computers can crash, mail can go astray, other emergencies occur. Don’t let this happen to you!
CME submissions can be made anytime during the two-year registration period as soon as the credit hours are earned. And yet more than 50% of CME submissions were received in the last 10 days before the due date in 2008, and another 18% were delinquent – received after the June 1st deadline. Since half of the cohorts have CMEs due in any given year, late submissions can cause a log jam and produce delays in updating the website, on which many practice groups depend to verify your certification status. Don’t let this happen you! Plus, you can speed things along by sending in your submission with a 42¢ stamp rather that a $16.50 Express Mail envelope!
Failure to sign and date the Applicant Statement on the second page of the Certifying or CDQ Examination application is the most common reason for an incomplete application. NCCAA must have your signature agreeing to its Rules and Regulations.
Q#6
From an AA practitioner: “Will you please send my examination scores to my state board of medicine [or to my practice group]?”
NCCAA does not release exam scores to anyone but the AA practitioner. NCCAA will, upon request, send a letter verifying your certification status to a practice group, state board of medicine, or other credentialing agency. This letter includes your initial exam year and the date through which you are certified.
Please remind your practice group that verification of your certification is available instantly on NCCAA's website, www.aa-nccaa.org, where they can print out an official copy of the verification of certification for their records. Please use NCCAA's on-line verification of certification to expedite your credentialing.
Requests for verification of certification will be sent by US mail when NCCAA receives the request in writing from the practitioner or via the website. Such requests must include the recipient’s complete mailing address.
Q#7
From an AA practitioner: “A recent letter arrived by US mail, certified/return receipt. It was inconvenient for me to go to the Post Office so it was returned to NCCAA. Was it important?”
NCCAA only sends communications by certified/return receipt mail when they are critical to your maintaining certification. NCCAA always retains proof that an attempt has been made to inform you of your certification status. Such mailings include notice that your certification status is delinquent, notice that you have been selected to participate in the CME audit, and other circumstances critical to your certification status.
If you no longer wish to remain certified, please inform NCCAA in writing so that we can move your name to the inactive file.
Q#8
From an AA practitioner: “Can I pay the exam application fee [or CME registration fee] with a credit card or debit card?”
NCCAA is not presently able to accept credit or debit card payments but hopes to add this in the future. Other possibilities for the future include on-line exam applications and registration, CME submissions, practitioner-entered changes of address, and more. Announcement of these changes will appear on NCCAA’s website.
Q#9
From an AA practitioner: “I sent in my CME documents in May and then was chosen for the CME audit in June. Why couldn’t NCCAA use the earlier CME submission for my audit?”
In fact, NCCAA no longer requires you to submit documents with your CME submission and does not retain those documents if they are submitted. Each practitioner must submit copies of original documents for the CME audit. Be sure to retain the originals for your records.
Q#10
From a credentialing agent for an anesthesia practice group: “Mr. John Doe claims that he is not certified by NCCAA because he was ‘grandfathered in.’ Can you help with this?”
NCCAA provides the certification process for anesthesiologist assistants in the United States. The first Certifying Examination was administered in 1992 and has been offered annually thereafter. There has never been a "grandfather period" for certification. The only way an anesthesiologist assistant can become certified is by successfully completing a Certifying Examination.
Q#11
From an AA practitioner: “I wish NCCAA would notify me when my CMEs are due.”
As a practitioner, you should be aware of your certification status, CME due date, and the upcoming CDQ exam date and application period. As NCCAA’s database grows, the cost of mass mailings such as you request become prohibitive. Please be aware of your certification expiration date in the same way that you are aware of the expiration dates for your drivers license, state license, and passport.
Q#12
From a credentialing agent: “Would you please tell me if you have received Ms. Jane Doe’s CME documents?”
To maintain confidentiality of practitioners, NCCAA does not communicate with third parties about specific practitioner matters.
Q#13
From a non-AA individual: “I am a licensed anesthesiologist in {country other than United States}, where I was in private practice for several years. I had three years of residency training in anesthesia and one year as chief resident. Is it possible for me to sit the Certifying Examination without undergoing formal schooling and training as an AA? Thank you.”
To be eligible to take NCCAA's Certifying Examination, an individual must be a graduate of a CAAHEP-accredited anesthesiologist assistant educational program in the United States. Complete eligibility requirements for NCCAA's Certifying Examination can be found on NCCAA's web site, www.aa-nccaa.org.