Use of Short Courses in Emergency Medicine as Criteria for Privileging or Employment

Revised and Approved by the ACEP Board of Directors, April 2012
Reaffirmed by the ACEP Board of Directors September 2005
This policy statement originally replaced the statement "Certification in Emergency Medicine," approved by the ACEP Board of Directors in June 1997 and was revised and approved June 1999. 

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) believes that board certification by the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) or the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM) demonstrates comprehensive training, knowledge, and skill in the practice of emergency medicine. Certificates of short course completion may serve as evidence of focused review; however, the content of such courses is part of the core curriculum of emergency medicine, and ABEM or AOBEM certification in emergency medicine supersedes evidence of the completion of such courses. Additionally, maintenance of board certification requires mandatory retesting and continuing medical education (CME), making updated short courses redundant.

Accordingly, for physicians certified by ABEM or AOBEM, ACEP strongly opposes the use of certificates of completion of courses such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), and Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS), or a specified number of CME hours in a sub-area of emergency medicine, as requirements for privileges, renewal of privileges, employment, or qualification by hospitals, city or state agencies, or any other credentialing organization to provide care for designated disease entities.