BACKGROUNDThere are education, experience, and examination standards for certification by NRCC. Applicants voluntarily present their education and experience credentials to the Registry’s Board of Directors as part of an application to sit for examination. After applications are approved, candidates are eligible to sit for examination. A candidate who passes an examination is then certified by the Board for the current year and a certificate is issued in the candidate’s name with a registration number.
The National Registry in Clinical Chemistry was organized in 1967 to certify Clinical Chemists and Clinical Chemistry Technologists.
NRCC started a certification program for Toxicological Chemists in 1987.
NRCC started a certification program for Chemical Hygiene Officers in 1997.
NRCC started a certification program for Environmental Analytical Chemists and Environmental Analytical Technicians in 1998.
In 1999 the Board of Directors of NRCC changed the organization’s name to National Registry of Certified Chemists.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) lists as an approved Certification Board for Clinical Consultants and Directors of High Complexity Testing:
“NRCC -----National Registry of Certified Chemists (limited to individuals with a doctoral degree).”Various states have passed legislation recognizing NRCC certification as a method to qualify certain laboratory personnel for licensure. NRCC certificants may use their listing in the NRCC annual directory as one credential supporting their expert witness status. Basically, individuals seek certification to enhance their professionalism in their career fields and among their peers.
The Registry is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in the District of Columbia. Its sponsors include major chemical and industrial hygiene organizations in the United States. Each of these organizations nominates periodically individuals to serve on the Registry’s Board of Directors. Those elected to the Board may be reelected and may serve a maximum of three consecutive, three-year terms.
The responsibility for evaluating applicants is vested in a Credentials Committee of the Board. Three members of the Board are selected at random and on a rotating basis to serve as a Credentials Committee for each completed application. If a Credentials Committee does not reach a unanimous decision to approve or disapprove an application, the application is referred to the full Board of Directors for action.
GENERAL CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
Applicants shall be evaluated without regard to age, sex, race, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
Applicants must be of high ethical and professional standing as attested to by references.
Applicants who meet the requirements of education and experience will be admitted to an examination designed to test their knowledge of both the fundamental and practical aspects of their discipline.
Applicants may sit for an examination, under one application, a maximum of three times within five years of the date of application.
Certificates are valid for the year of initial certification and may be renewed and reissued thereafter in one- or three-year increments after a review of continuing experience and education and training. Names of holders of initial certificates and renewed certificates are published annually in a directory.
To be valid, certification must be continuous from the year of initial certification.
Certificates are not transferable.
The right to deny certification is reserved.
Applicants who are denied approval to sit for examination or denied certification due to failing an examination or denied renewal of certification may appeal such actions to the Board within 60 days after notification of denial has been mailed by NRCC.
Certificates granted by the Board may be suspended, their surrender may be requested, or they me be revoked for any of the following reasons:
a misstatement or misrepresentation in an application for certification or in any other communication to the Registry, the correction of which would render the individual ineligible for certification, or
conviction of an applicant for certification or holder of a certificate by a court of competent jurisdiction of a felony or of any crime involving moral turpitude, or
issuance of a certificate contrary to or in violation of any of the rules, laws, or regulations governing the Registry at the time of certification.
No adverse action concerning a certificate will be taken by the Board without providing the individual involved at least 30 days advance notice of the charges and an opportunity to rebut such charges.
Emeritus status may be granted, without fee, for reasons of (1) normal retirement from active practice, (2) permanent disability precluding active practice, or (3) retirement for other reasons after 20 years of NRCC certification.
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE STANDARDS FOR
TOXICOLOGICAL CHEMIST CERTIFICATIONEarned bachelor’s degree with at least the equivalence of 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of chemistry courses plus 8 semester hours (12 quarter hours) of additional natural science courses from an institution acceptable to the Board and a minimum of 4 years full-time (or part-time equivalent) of toxicology experience including at least 2 years full-time (or part-time equivalent) of experience dealing with human specimens which may include interpretation of data.
Earned master’s degree with at least the equivalence of 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of chemistry courses plus 8 semester hours (12 quarter hours) of additional natural science courses from an institution acceptable to the Board and a minimum of 3 years full-time (or part-time equivalent) of toxicology experience including at least 2 years full-time (or part-time equivalent) of experience dealing with human specimens which may include interpretation of data.
Earned doctor’s degree with at least the equivalence of 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of chemistry courses plus 8 semester hours (12 quarter hours) of additional natural science courses from an institution acceptable to the Board and a minimum of 2 years full-time (or part-time equivalent) of toxicology experience dealing with human specimens which may include interpretation of data.
Acceptable institutions are institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada accredited by a regional accrediting association or whose pertinent program is accredited by a national accrediting agency. Transcripts must be sent by institutions directly to NRCC.
Applicants with education at higher education institutions outside the United States and Canada must, at their expense, have credentials evaluated for equivalence by an acceptable evaluation agency for foreign transcript evaluations. A list of acceptable evaluation agencies will be provided by the Board. Reports must show course titles and hours and must be sent by agencies directly to NRCC.
EXAMINATION STANDARDS
Toxicological Chemist examinations consist of 150 multiple-choice questions covering both the theoretical, fundamental, and practical aspects of toxicological and clinical chemistry.
Questions are concerned with Basic Science, Methodology, and Laboratory Practice applicable to toxicological chemistry. Questions may relate to poisons, drugs of abuse, and therapeutic drugs. Questions will emphasize (1) Analysis and Interpretation and (2) Evaluation. The examinations will also include questions concerned with (3) Patient Preparation, Specimen Collection and Handling, and, to a lesser extent, (4) Management and Administration.
Categories of questions may include: general laboratory (regulations, administration, etc.); safety; quality assurance; trivia; personnel; specimens (general, collection, handling – urine, oral fluid, hair, blood/serum); methodology (spot tests, immunoassay, spectrophotometry, fluorometry, radiometers, thin layer chromatography, HPLC, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography tandem mass spec, osmolality, atomic absorption); specimen preparation; pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics; pharmacogenetics: specific drugs and toxins, (pharmacology, analysis, toxicity, treatment); acetaminophen; aminoglycosides; amphetamines; anticholinergics; benzodiazepines; carbamazepine; carbon monoxide; cocaine; cyanide; cyclosporine; digoxin; ethanol; ethylene glycol; GHB; heavy metals (As, Hg); lead; lidocaine; lithium; methanol; isopropanol; methemoglobin; nicotine/cotinine; opiates; PCP; penobarb/barbs; phenytoin; primidone; procainamide; protease inhibitors; salcylate; THC; theophylline/caffeine; tricyclic antidepressants; multiple drugs and toxins; calculations (stds, buffers, enzymes, etc.) and interpretation; and adulterations testing.
Examinations are developed by a Toxicological Chemist Examination Committee, appointed by the President. The committee determines content areas and relative emphasis for each area. Questions may be solicited from practitioners from within and outside the Board. Questions are analyzed and edited periodically by the Examination Committee to ensure subject matter accuracy and relevancy. Questions are maintained in a database from which items are selected for each form of an examination.
Three hours are allowed for completion of an exam.
Examinations are scheduled at various national and regional meetings. Examinations may also be scheduled at local sites within reasonable distances of candidates with local proctors. Tentative exam schedules may be viewed at the website: www.nrcc6.org.
Answer sheets are scored in-house at NRCC. Reports of scores, along with normative data, are reviewed by the Board of Directors which sets the passing score for examinations. Candidates are identified in the scoring process by number, not by name. Pass-fail results are reported to candidates.
2008 NRCC EXAM SITES tentative
03-15-08 Brampton, Ont., Canada
04-06-08 New Orleans, LA (ACS meeting)
04-29-08 Brampton, Ont., Canada
05-15-08 St. Joseph, MO
07-28-08 Washington, DC (AACC meeting)
07-31-08 Ithaca, NY
08-17-08 Philadelphia, PA (ACS meeting)
??-??-08 Chicago, IL
??-??-08 Denver, CO
??-??-08 New Orleans, LA
??-??-08 Richmond, CA
??-??-08 San Diego, CA
??-??-08 Local Sites/Local Proctors (to be determined)FEES FOR NRCC CERTIFICATION
The current application fee is $100.00.
The current examination fee is $125.00.
The current reexamination fee is $125.00
The current renewal fee for Toxicological Chemist is $75.00 per year or $200.00 for three years.Fees are not refundable.
CATEGORIES OF NRCC CERTIFICATION
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Clinical Chemist
Clinical Chemistry Technologist
Environmental Analytical Chemist
Environmental Analytical Technician
Toxicological Chemist