Level 2 Initial Accreditation

Eligibility

Applicants for Level 2 Initial accreditation must be one of the following:

• Consultants in Radiology or Cardiology
  
• Trainees (ST trainees or staff doctors with equivalent experience) who wish to undertake advanced training in cardiovascular imaging.
  
• Other applicants will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
  

It is likely that you have undertaken clinical training in a practicing centre and have attended sufficient CPD events to fulfil the BSCI/BSCCT requirements (see details below) OR recently completed a relevant training course and compiled a logbook of 25 additional clinical cases.

The onus is on the applicant to demonstrate clearly that they have reached the required standard. Applications that are unclear or do not include all of the required information will be suspended and returned to the applicant for clarification and resubmission. 

The BSCI/BSCCT encourages applications through two principal routes:

Route 1 – Hospital-based 

1. The applicant, during normal clinical practice, has performed 150 contrast-enhanced cardiovascular CT studies. 

a. These studies should cover:

• At least 60 cases of coronary analysis, no more than 25% of which were entirely normal
  
• At least 25 cases of other cardiac pathology e.g. pericardial diseases, valvular disease
  
• At least 10 cases of patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting
  

b. The applicant should have been involved in choice of scan protocol, patient preparation, study acquisition, analysis and report production. 

c. All studies should have been supervised by cardiac CT practitioners formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard (The BSCI/BSCCT also recognises the accreditation programmes of both the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) and European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI). At the discretion of the Accreditation Committee, practitioners accredited by other societies may also be considered eligible).

d. The 50 cases from the level 1 SCCT online course may be used towards the logbook of 150 cases. The course certificate should be included in the application as evidence.

2. In lieu of a logbook of all cases, supporting evidence must comprise:

a. A completed Verification of Hands-On Cardiovascular CT Practice form. A letter on departmental letterhead using the same form of words may be submitted instead.

Please click HERE to download the 'Verification of Hands-On Cardiovascular CT Practice' form.This form must be signed by a practitioner accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Clinical Practitioner standard (SCCT or EACVI Level 2 or 3 accredited cardiovascular CT practitioners are also eligible to sign this form. At the discretion of the Accreditation Committee, Level 2 practitioners accredited by other societies may also be considered eligible).

BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Initial accredited practitioners are not eligible to sign this form.

b. A logbook of 25 dated, anonymised but otherwise complete cardiac CT reports. Reports may be co-signed by no more than one supervising Cardiologist and/or Radiologist and must include information on dose (DLP) and scan technique.

c. Evidence of 16 hours Continuing Professional Development must be submitted. This must demonstrably fulfil the requirements outlined below:

The applicant must provide evidence of 16 hours of CPD in cardiovascular CT that includes, but is not limited to:

1. Image optimization, radiation dose reduction, and advanced post-processing.

2. Functional assessment with cardiac CT and correlation with other modalities.

3. Bypass graft anatomy and assessment.

4. Coronary artery stent assessment.

5. Assessment of valvular heart disease including TAVI planning.

6. Role of CT in patients with heart failure.

7. Role of CT in pericardial diseases and cardiac masses.

8. The role of CT in evaluation of congenital heart disease.

9. Assessment of non-cardiac pathologies on a cardiac CT scan, particularly lung pathology.

Applicants should note the following points:

• If a Level 2 course certificate is submitted as evidence of relevant cardiovascular CT CPD, the certificate should confirm specifically that the content areas above has been covered. A course programme indicating the lecture content will also suffice.
  
• All CPD must be pertinent to cardiovascular CT, demonstrably apply to the content areas above and be supported by formal certificates stating the number of CPD hours granted for the activity.
  
• If the submitted CPD certificates relate to general or multi-stream meetings, the onus is on the applicant to detail the lectures and modules attended relevant to this application. The applicant will be credited an appropriate proportion of the CPD value of the meeting certificate.
  
• If this detail is not provided and/or, in the view of the Accreditation Committee, the claimed CPD has unclear relevance to cardiac CT accreditation, no credit will be allocated. If the CPD requirement is not met as a result, forms will be returned to the applicant for clarification and resubmission. The application will be suspended in the meantime.
  
• If the applicant has included the 50 cases from the level 1 online SCCT course in their logbook, the certificate should be included along with the application.
  

d. A letter verifying status as a Consultant or Specialist Registrar from the Head of Department, Human Resources, Medical director, etc. is required to be submitted with your application.

e. An application fee must be paid before the application will be considered. A link to pay by credit card will appear once your application has been submitted. Fees are as follows:

Level 2 Initial

BSCI member £175

Non member £250

Applications will be processed within 8 weeks 

Level 2 Initial Fast Track

BSCI member £275

Non member £350

Applications will be processed within 2 weeks 

Route 2 – Course-based 

1. The applicant has attended a classroom-based course that meets all of the following criteria:

a. The course must have been attended no more than 24 months prior to the date of application. Applicants applying more than a year after attending the course must meet additional requirements (see 3, below).

b. The course must be supervised by a faculty lead (and, ideally, all trainers) accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Clinical Practitioner standard (SCCT or EACVI Level 2 or 3 accredited cardiovascular CT practitioners are also eligible. At the discretion of the Accreditation Committee, Level 2 practitioners accredited by other societies may also be considered eligible).

BSCI/BSCCT ‘Level 2 Initial’ accredited practitioners do not meet this criterion.

c. During the course, applicants must examine 150 contrast-enhanced cardiac CT studies.

d. These studies must cover the case-mix defined in the Verification of Hands-On Cardiac CT Practice (see ‘Hospital-based Training’, above). A logbook of all cases examined should be included with the application.

e. A course attendance certificate may be submitted and must confirm:

i. Interpretation of a minimum of 150 contrast-enhanced cardiac CT studies.
ii. The case-mix requirements for Level 2 Initial Accreditation have been met.
iii. The number of approved Category 1 CPD points for the course
iv. The accreditation level of the Faculty lead/Course Organiser.

f. Information in (e) not included on the course attendance certificate should be highlighted from other course documentation or be requested in writing from the course organiser.

g. Applications that do not include all of the required information will be suspended and returned to the applicant for clarification and resubmission.

a. The applicant should provide dated, anonymised but otherwise complete reports for all 25 cases. Reports may be co-signed by no more than one supervising Cardiologist and/or Radiologist and must include information on dose (DLP) and scan technique.

b. Cases must have been performed in the interval between course completion and accreditation application and must have been supervised by cardiac CT practitioners formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard*.

c. The reports should be accompanied by a covering letter from a practitioner formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard*. confirming that the supervision requirement in (b) has been met for each of the 25 cases.

d. Applications that do not include all of the required information will be suspended and returned to the applicant for clarification and resubmission.

a. The applicant should provide an anonymised and dated summary logbook of all 100 cases.

b. The applicant should provide dated, anonymised but otherwise complete reports for 25 of the 100 cases. Reports may be co-signed by no more than one supervising Cardiologist and/or Radiologist and must include information on dose (DLP) and scan technique.

c. Cases must have been performed in the interval between course completion and accreditation application and, by definition, cannot be more than 24 months old at the time of accreditation application submission. It is therefore highly advisable to apply for accreditation within 12 months of the date of a classroom-based training certificate.

d. The additional 100 cases must have been supervised by a practitioner formally accredited at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard*.

e. The reports should be accompanied by a covering letter from a practitioner formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard*. confirming that the supervision requirement in (d) has been met for each of the 100 cases.

f. Applications that do not include all of the required information will be suspended and returned to the applicant for clarification and resubmission.