Mission.
The mission of the NCCAA is to promote patient safety through certification programs which assess the knowledge, skills and competency of the anesthesiologist assistant and to instill lifelong learning through continuing education requirements.
Purpose.
The purpose of the NCCAA is to ensure that CAAs have the necessary knowledge and skills to practice safely and effectively. In so doing, the NCCAA also protects the value of the CAA credential. The NCCAA is responsible for:
1. Establishing and maintaining criteria for the earning of designation as a Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant, including requirements for initial a certification and continued certification;
2. Adopting and confirming compliance of initial and continued certification eligibility requirements for certified anesthesiologist assistants;
3. Formulating, adopting, and confirming compliance of the requirements for eligibility for admission to NCCAA-administered examinations or assessments including, but not limited to, the NCCAA Certification Exam (CERT) and the NCCAA Continued Demonstration of Qualifications (CDQ) Exam;
4. Developing, administering, scoring, and analyzing the NCCAA examination to establish proficient applicants for the credential of Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant;
5. Formulating, adopting, and administering NCCAA-created examinations or assessments to candidates who have met all requirements for examination or assessment and have been found eligible.
No national organization can expect to determine the specific procedures that any individual CAA is qualified to perform. Nor can any national organization adequately determine whether an individual CAA may have developed an impairment that could interfere with the proper administration of anesthesia.
Ultimately, these judgments must be entrusted to the individual CAA, to those with whom they work, and those that provide state licensing for CAAs. The NCCAA seeks to protect the public’s interest by enacting a plan of certification and recertification on evidence of continued competence in providing anesthesia as indicated by participation in continuing medical education, substantiation of satisfactory performance, and undergoing periodic re-examination to confirm maintenance of current medical knowledge.
History.
In 1989, a group of five anesthesiologists, two anesthesiologist assistants and one member of the public formed the National Commission for Certification of Anesthesiologist Assistants (NCCAA). Anesthesiologist Assistants had been in practice for a couple of decades. The need for independent credentialing of anesthesiologist assistants was deemed important to:
1) Ensure the public of the training, knowledge and skill of anesthesiologist assistants.
2) Protect the anesthesiologist assistants in practice by developing and ensuring standards for practice as an anesthesiologist assistant.