CME Documentation Guidance

The following applicants must provide documentation of a minimum of 30 hours of CME completed within the thirty-six (36) months prior to application submission. A minimum of 15 hours must be Nuclear Cardiology-specific. A maximum of 15 hours from the applicant’s other areas of specialty may complete the 30 hour total.

  • Certification applicants whose Level 2 nuclear cardiology training was completed seven (7) or more years prior to the exam for which they are applying
  • Certification applicants coming through the Experience Pathway (no new candidates)
  • Recertification applicants
  • Applicants who failed the exam three or more times and who must provide documentation of additional training must submit 25 hours of Nuclear Cardiology Specific CME taken within 18 months of application submission.

Note: CME must be submitted with your application or you will incur the $75 penalty fee. CME hours completed after the final application deadline cannot be accepted.  Be aware that activities may only be counted one time toward meeting your requirements.  In other words, regardless of whether a CME sponsor permits a participant to complete the same activity multiple times, CBNC will count each topic once only.

GUIDANCE ON WHAT CAN AND CANNOT BE USED IN COUNTING CME CREDIT HOURS

What can be counted toward the MINIMUM 15 NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGY-SPECIFIC credits:

  • Any program specific to nuclear cardiology which carries AMA PRA category I CME credit, including (but not limited to):
    • Meetings and Conferences
    • Grand Rounds
    • Online Tutorials
    • Educational Products
    • Nuclear Cardiology Working Group meetings, if they carry CME credit
  • Nuclear Cardiology specific sessions at conferences such as ACC, AHA, ASNC, SNM etc, may be counted, particularly the satellite sessions.
  • Basic Radioisotope Handling courses (CLT) that carry CME credit can be counted toward this requirement.
  • Courses that are on mixed topics, such as CT and Nuclear Cardiology or Overviews of Diagnostic Imaging can count only the sessions where nuclear cardiology was a principle part of the session.
    • Dual Modality (e.g., Nuclear AND CT) – may count all hours
    • Multi Modality (more than 2 types – e.g., CT/Echo/MRI/Nuclear) may count ONLY the nuclear cardiology hours

    Examples:

    • Nuclear Cardiology v Echo – What to use when — YES
    • Getting the most out of your CT data — NO
    • Recent Advances in Clinical Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT Featuring Case Review With the Experts — DEPENDS.
      • Nuclear sessions — YES
      • Nuclear/CT sessions — YES
      • Sessions exclusively on CT — NO

The following may be used to meet THE MAXIMUM 15 NON NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGY-SPECIFIC credits so long as they carry CME credit:

  • Courses specific to CT only, or to other cardiovascular imaging modalities
  • Multi Modality courses (more than 2 types – e.g., CT/Echo/MRI/Nuclear) may count the non nuclear cardiology hours
  • Courses on general cardiology, echo, interventional cardiology, cardiovascular electrophysiology, general nuclear medicine, general radiology or anything within these areas, including general cardiology review courses or SAPs.

Activities that do not carry CME credit may not be used by U.S. applicants to meet any of the CME requirement. Examples:

  • Industry sponsored sessions with no CME credit
  • Case reviews with no CME credit
  • ICNC, unless you have applied to the AMA for conference credit (ICNC sessions per se do not carry CME credit)

Nota Bene: If the CME certificate does not state specifically that the course was nuclear cardiology related, CBNC staff may require a copy of the syllabus or program to review. CBNC shall have the final word on whether or not the activity meets the requirements.

For those applying from outside the US, educational courses and activities without Cat I CME may be counted. Examples:

  • Programs or products offered by the ESC or EANM specific to nuclear cardiology
  • Conferences of national nuclear cardiology organizations
  • Conferences of local working groups
  • Nuclear Cardiology specific sessions from conferences of national Cardiology or Nuclear Medicine associations

For other questions, please contact the CBNC office at +240.631.8151 or CBNC@inteleos.org.