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:

• Establishing and maintaining criteria for the earning of designation as a Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant, including requirements for initial certification and continued certification.
• Adopting and confirming compliance of initial and continued certification eligibility requirements for certified anesthesiologist assistants.
• 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.
• Developing, administering, scoring, and analyzing the NCCAA examination to establish proficient applicants for the credential of Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant.
• 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.

Specific to the Continued Demonstration of Qualifications (CDQ) exam, the purpose is to assess the continued baseline knowledge, cognitive, and deductive skills of the anesthesiologist assistan with respect to the identified anesthesia subject matter areas with the practice of the Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant (CAA).  The periodic CDQ examination is developed to assess and confirm maintenance of current medical knowledge.