COVID-19 UPDATE: ABGC is not extending  recertification deadlines. We believe the validity and significance of the certification is more important than ever, and encourage renewal candidates to assess how many CEUs they have accumulated to date and how many more are needed before the end of the year. The National Society of Genetic Counselors has a wealth of online CEU options currently available with a significant number of CEUs offered upon completion. The ABGC Board will continue to monitor issues around certification and recertification during these unprecedented times. 

Recertification

Recertification demonstrates a commitment to maintaining the standard of ethical and competent practice set by the profession, and is significant for licensing, professional advancement, hospital credentialing and privileging and insurance reimbursement. ABGC implemented a mandatory recertification requirement for any Diplomate certified in 1996 or later.

Diplomates may recertify by examination or by participation in appropriate continuing education activities. If a Diplomate chooses to recertify by examination, she or he should follow the application guidelines and eligibility requirements included in the Examination Bulletin.

Each Diplomate is responsible for:

• Applying for recertification within the allotted time frame
• Creating and updating the contact information on her/his ABGC Portal profile
• Keeping current with ABGC news, information, policy, rules and regulations 

Newly certified Diplomates can start earning CEUs towards recertification as soon as the month after they have successfully completed the examination. To check your current recertification cycle eligibility period, log in to your Certification Renewal portal and click on “Recertify” in the upper right.

Retired Professional Activity Credits (PACS)
As part of evaluating the continuing education activities used for recertification, the ABGC Board of Directors issued Standards and Guidelines for CEUs and CEU providers. As a continuation of this activity, the Board reviewed the approved Professional Activity Credits (PACs) to ensure that what is accepted by ABGC falls within these new guidelines.
 
Based on this analysis, several of the existing PACs do not meet the new CEU Standards and Guidelines. Therefore, the Board made the decision to retire these PAC activities. This decision is effective as of December 31, 2019. Therefore, the deadline to use any retiring PAC was 12/31/2019.  Please plan now for replacing any of the anticipated credits earned from these activities after 12/31/2019.   

As part of this analysis, it was determined that graduate coursework and case conference/peer supervision groups (now retired PAC activities) would qualify as a Category 2 CEU. Additional information about these retired PACs is noted in the Retired PAC Table. 

For more information on the PACs that will continue to be accepted for recertification, please see the Approved PAC Table. More information on the PACs that have been retired can be found in the Retired PAC Table.