1. A candidate, who has successfully completed the prescribed course of instruction offered by an institution accredited by the Health Standards Organization EQUAL™ CANADA Allied Health Education Accreditation Program or the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and approved by the CSCP Board of Directors, and who has performed 50 post graduate cases, if required (see full requirements below) may choose to challenge the examination by completing the online application form and paying the appropriate fee.
2. The National Certification Examination is held annually in October. The Chair of the Committee on Accreditation, Competency and Examination (ACE) will notify candidates via email whether their application for the examination has been approved.
3. Candidates must be on the Society records as a paid Associate Member in good standing at the time of the application deadline.
4. Application to challenge the CSCP certification examination must be submitted to the CSCP National Office no later than July 1 (EST) in the year the examination is to be taken. Applications received at the National Office later than July 1 (EST) will not be processed for that year. NO EXCEPTIONS.
5. For the application to be processed at the time of submission, you must provide proof of graduation. OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS from the accredited training institution must be included with the application. The only exception for unofficial transcripts are from candidates who anticipate graduating and fulfilling the case requirements (if required) after the July 1st application deadline but before September 30th may apply for the exam in that year, providing they alternatively upload a letter or unofficial transcripts from their accredited training institution confirming enrolment in the program along with the expected date of graduation.
6. OFFICIAL transcripts and/or case requirement documentation must be received at the National Office no later than September 30th (no exceptions) in the year you intend to write the exam.
7. A passport-quality JPEG format photograph (head shot) of the applicant must accompany the completed application form.
8. All appropriate fees (payable in Canadian funds) must accompany the completed application. A refund will be granted if a written request is received not less than thirty (30) days prior to the examination. There will be a $50 administration fee charged for all refund requests granted.
9. If graduation from an accredited training program is more than 12 months before the date of application to the CSCP certification exam, then 50 postgraduate cases are required. Please refer to Schedule C Regulation 1/2006 (5). A case report sheet must accompany each Application for Examination, stating Hospital, Date, Surgeon, and Procedure. This information should be uploaded along with the application.
Either Word or Excel spreadsheet are the recommended options for displaying the case information. Please ensure that each spreadsheet page is identified with the applicant's name.
*The case requirements are as follows:
| First writing: (12 months post-graduation, or more) |
Fifty post-graduate cases |
| 1st re-write in the event of failure: |
Seventy-Five cases. Cases must be dated later than the date of first writing of exam |
| 2nd re-write in the event of failure: |
One Hundred cases. Cases must be dated later than the date of the second writing of the exam |
Definitions
Case: Cases must be performed as the primary perfusionist and include initiation, maintenance for more than half the total case time, and termination.
ECMO/VAD: An ECMO or VAD can count as a case provided that you either (a) initiated it and maintained it for four hours or (b) you did a full maintenance shift of at least eight hours in duration.
Stand-by: Pump stand-by cases do not count as a case for the purpose of application for the Certification examination.