Re-certification process for TEE and TTE certifications

Certification in TEE and TTE is valid 5 years

In order to keep their certification status, all persons who have been certified by the European Association of Echocardiography must apply for re-certification before the 5-year validity expires.

As the internal review process can take up to 90 days, it is critical that request for re-certification are sent well on time.
Candidates will receive a reminder via email from the EAE Certification Office 9 months before their certification is due to expire. No reminders will be sent thereafter.

Requirements | Fees | Process

Requirements

Re-certification will be awarded on the basis of evidence of continuing practical experience in echocardiography and continuing medical education in this field.
Re-certification must be obtained prior to the expiration date.

In order to assess continuing practical experience, current EAE certified practitioners must provide the following:

Profile

TTE requirements

TEE requirements

High volume applicants

Sonographers, technicians, cardiologists who perform a large number of studies and have little opportunity to attend national and international meetings and gain continuing learning hours

250 TTE or DSE studies* per year
40 hours of continuing learning**

50 TEE studies per year*
30 hours of continuing learning**

Low volume applicants

Senior echocardiographers and directors of echo labs who perform fewer routine studies and have greater opportunities to attend national and international meetings

100 studies* per year

50 hours of continuing learning**

* Applicant must be involved in the study although they may not have performed it completely themselves – e.g, applicants may have confirmed that the maximum gradient through the aortic valve had been obtained even though other parts of the study have been performed by a trainee/colleague.

Additionally, the EAE Certification Skills Assessment Committee may ask for evidence of practical studies in the form of a report (study or videos / clips - upon request).

**The continuing learning hours must be collected over the 5 years.
1CME=1 hour of echo learning
CME credits are obtained by participating in:

National, European and International, Echo / General Cardiology / Ultrasound meetings
Educational courses.

Eligible Meetings

Only the echo component of meetings will count for re-certification.

EUROECHO – please indicate hours of echo lectures attended
EACTA congress - please indicate hours of echo lectures attended
The following approved meetings (this list will be constantly updated)
American Society of Echo meeting
ACC (echo component only – sessions attended must be specified)
AHA (echo component only – sessions attended must be specified)
ESC Congress (echo component only – sessions attended must be specified)
Cardiothoracic anaesthesia and perioperative echocardiography meetings
Meetings endorsed by the EAE
Meetings awarded EBAC credits (Echo component only, 1 EBAC credit hour = 1 CME hour)
Other meetings – you may have attended other national and international meetings providing CME in Echo. These may be eligible. Please submit with your application copies of the course programme, the course faculty and evidence of your attendance and the number of hours claimed. These hours will be evaluated by the EAE Certification committee for acceptability.
It is recommended that the majority of CME hours come from i) to iv) above.

The EAE Certification committee reserves the right to check the details of the course and evidence of attendance. The decision of the EAE Certification Committee is final regarding award of CME hours

Fees for Re-certification

100 euros.
Candidates holding continuous EAE membership during 5 years: Free of charge.

Certificate

Candidates successfully re-certified will be awarded a certificate.

Process

STEP 1: To apply for re-certification, candidates must send a request for re-certification to the EAE Certification Office mentioning:

First name and family name

Sub-specialty for which re-certification is requested (CHD, TEE or TTE)

Year when first certification was obtained.

Upon submission of the request, the EAE Certification office will inform candidates of their eligibility.

STEP 2: once the request is validated, the EAE Certification Office sends to the candidate the re-certification forms to fill in.

Candidates have to forward the following elements to the EAE Certification Office:

Re-certification 'documents to submit' check list.
Re-certification form with payment (credit card of bank transfer).
Letter from the candidate's immediate supervisor attesting of the number of studies performed by the candidate for re-certification. If you do not have a supervisor, please provide a letter from a colleague and explain.
Copy of the candidate's initial EAE Certification diploma (or accompanying letter) or most recent re-certification certificat.
Proof of at least 50 CME credits, and photocopies of all CME certificates. The CME credit certificates must be numbered (from 1 to ...) and reported on the CME Credits submission form.
Certificate of attendance/proof of participation and copies of final scientific programmes when CME certificates are not available - the EAE Certification office will come back to you with the number of CME credits that have been allocated by the EAE Certification Committee.

EAE Certification Office address:

The European Heart House
2035 Route des Colles
Les Templiers - BP 179
06903 Sophia Antipolis - France

Results of the re-certification are sent by email within 3 months after request.

For any information, please contact us