Initial Level 2 – Course-based

Requirements:

  1. Analysis of 150 Cardiac CT Cases during a Level 2 Cardiac CT course evidenced by:
    1. Course logbook of 150 cases AND
    2. Course certificate
  2. Evidence of 16 hours of Continuing Professional Development specific to Cardiac CT
  3. 25 anonymised but otherwise complete cardiac CT reports undertaken in a hospital/clinic setting (NOT during a course)
  4. A letter verifying your status as a Consultant or Specialist Registrar in Radiology, Cardiology or Cardiothoracic Surgery from your Head of Department, Human Resources or Medical Director.

Further information:

Course:

  • The Level 2 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 below).
  • The course faculty lead (and ideally all trainers) must be accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Experienced 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.
  • During the course, applicants must examine 150 contrast-enhanced cardiac CT studies. These studies should include:
    • 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
  • A logbook of all cases examined should be included with the application.
  • The course attendance certificate should be submitted and must confirm:
    • Interpretation of a minimum of 150 contrast-enhanced cardiac CT studies.
    • The case-mix requirements for Level 2 Initial Accreditation have been met.
    • The number of approved Category 1 CPD points for the course
    • The accreditation level of the Faculty lead/Course Organiser.

If this information is not included on the course attendance certificate it should be highlighted from other course documentation or be requested in writing from the course organiser.

  • Applicants applying more than one year after completion of a classroom-based course must submit a logbook of an additional 100 hospital/clinic-based cases. This is to demonstrate that the applicant has had ongoing cardiac CT experience during this period. The logbook in the form of a spreadsheet should contain date, indication, scan technique, findings and dose length product for each study (complete reports are not required for these additional 100 cases). These 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. These additional 100 cases must have been supervised by a practitioner formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard. A covering letter should be submitted signed by a practitioner formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard confirming that the supervision requirement has been met for each of the 100 cases.
  • Courses completed more than two years before the date of application for accreditation will not count towards the accreditation requirement. Applicants wishing to apply for accreditation after this time either should have accrued enough cardiac CT cases in clinical practice to apply via the Hospital based route or will need to attend another course to top up training.

25 Cardiac CT Reports

  • Supplementary to the 150 classroom-based cases, and reflecting the non-clinical learning environment of a classroom-based course, is the requirement for evidence of involvement in scan acquisition, interpretation and report production of an additional 25 hospital/clinic-based cases. These 25 cases cannot be performed as part of a course as the purpose of this is to demonstrate that the applicant can supervise, analyse and report cases in a real-world setting. Cases must have been performed in the interval between course completion and accreditation application. The applicant is expected to be directly involved in scan supervision and acquisition for these cases. Ideally this would be with a cardiac CT practitioner formally accredited to at least BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 standard but if all scanning is radiographer-led in your institution then this supervision could be with an experienced cardiac radiographer.
  • As evidence applicants must submit 25 anonymised but otherwise complete cardiac CT reports. These must include scan indications, date, scan technique, dose length product and findings. These reports should be submitted as a single document.  Please note that a logbook of findings is NOT acceptable – we require actual reports. An example of what is required for these 25 cases is provided here

CPD 

  • The applicant must provide evidence of 16 hours of category 1 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.
  • 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.

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.

For those submitting a fast track application the turnaround time will only start once all relevant and correct information is provided via the accreditation portal for the reviewers to access. 

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