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MISSION OF THE BOARD OF CERTIFICATION
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Upon inception in 1969, the Board of Certification (BOC), Inc., was an entity of the professional membership organization of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) and as such was solely responsible for certification of athletic trainers. However, in 1989 the BOC became an independent not-for-profit corporation to provide a certification program for entry-level athletic trainers and recertification standards for maintaining status as a certified athletic trainer. The BOC is currently the only accredited certification program for athletic trainers in the United States. Every 5 years the BOC undergoes review and reaccreditation by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accreditation body of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA). The BOC is currently governed by an eight-member board of directors, consisting of five athletic trainer directors, one physician director, one public director, and one corporate/educational director.
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The mission of the BOC is "to certify Athletic Trainers and to identify, for the public, quality health care professionals through a system of certification, adjudication, standards of practice, and continuing competency programs." The BOC provides a certification program known as the BOC examination for entry-level athletic trainers. The purpose of this exam is to assess candidates' knowledge in the six domains of athletic training as defined by the Role Delineation Study.
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CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION ELIGIBILITY
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According to information provided in the BOC Exam Candidate Handbook, which is available free of charge from the BOC, candidates for the BOC certification exam must meet the following requirements:
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The candidate's exam application must be endorsed by the recognized program director of the candidate's Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)–accredited program
Proof must be provided of current certification in emergency cardiac care (ECC), which includes adult and pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), airway obstruction, second-rescuer CPR, and use of automatic external defibrillator and barrier device (examples of courses that meet this BOC requirement are in the BOC Exam Candidate Handbook)
The candidate must have graduated from a CAATE-accredited program or be enrolled in the last semester (or quarter) of a CAATE-accredited program, provided all academic and clinical requirements of the CAATE-accredited program have been satisfied or will be satisfied during this last semester (or quarter)
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The BOC complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990) by providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who supply appropriate documentation. The BOC follows the guidelines set forth in the Principles of Fairness developed by the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) and the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA). If the candidate needs to request reasonable accommodations or a change in exam procedures or processes because of a disability, handicap, or other reason, the candidate must complete the Request for Special Exam Accommodations Form, available online at http://www.bocatc.org. Additionally, thoroughly read the Accommodations Requests section of the BOC Exam Candidate Handbook...