Experienced Level 2

Applicants for Level 2 Experienced accreditation must be Consultants or Specialty Trainees (or Specialty Doctors at an equivalent level) in Radiology, Cardiology or Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Applicants will typically (i) have Level 2 Initial accreditation or existing Level 2 BSCI/BSCCT Experienced (Clinical Practitioner) accreditation; (ii) be practicing clinical cardiac CT routinely; and (iii) be approaching the end of their accreditation period.

If you undertake Cardiac CT in a hospital/clinic setting where you are involved directly or indirectly in the supervision of scanning and image acquisition then you should apply for Level 2 Experienced (this would include a doctor who supervises radiographer-led scanning although the doctor may not directly supervise every scan). Most applicants will be expected to apply for this.

However if you only report cardiac CT in a teleradiology setting and are therefore not involved in the supervision and acquisition of Cardiac CT images then you should apply for Level 2 Experienced Teleradiology only.

Requirements:

  1. 300 contrast-enhanced Cardiac CT Cases over 3 years completed in a clinical setting (not on a course) evidenced by:
    1. Verification of Hands on Practice form AND
    2. 25 anonymised but otherwise complete cardiac CT reports
  2. Evidence of 20 hours of Continuing Professional Development specific to Cardiac CT over 3 years
  3. A letter verifying your status as a Consultant or Specialist Registrar/equivalent in Radiology, Cardiology or Cardiothoracic Surgery from your Head of Department, Human Resources or Medical Director.

Further information:

  • Most applicants will be seeking re-accreditation having previously held either Level 2 Initial or Level 2 Experienced(formerly known as Level 2 Clinical Practitioner) and will be approaching the end of their application period.
  • Occasionally, experienced practitioners may not have applied for accreditation previously but may consider that they already have significant experience in cardiac CT and therefore wish to apply for Level 2 Experienced accreditation directly. Such applicants may still apply using this form but should note the additional mandatory requirements outlined below. Applicants may wish to contact the BSCI/BSCCT Accreditation Committee in advance of submitting an application to confirm eligibility in principle. Applicants should note that this confirmation does not constitute a guarantee of a successful application upon review.
  • Level 2 Experienced accreditation is designed for cardiac CT practitioners showing an ongoing commitment to clinical cardiac CT delivery. As such, cases must be accrued in clinical practice – those obtained on training courses are not eligible towards the case requirement. The minimum level of clinical activity is 300 cases over the past three years (most will have undertaken considerably more than this). Applicants are expected to be responsible for scan planning and CT data acquisition for these studies, although this may be via direct or indirect supervision.
  • Applications are not encouraged before 3 years have elapsed since initial accreditation. However, such applications may be considered where individuals have accumulated the minimum requirements and wish to expedite the process. There will be no reduction in application fee for applications made less than 3 years since Level 2 Initial accreditation.
  • As evidence of completion of the required 300 cases the Verification of Clinical Practice form  should be downloaded, completed and submitted. This should be signed by a practitioner accredited to the standard of BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Experienced or Level 3, SCCT Level 3 or EACVI Level 3. At the discretion of the Accreditation Committee, practitioners accredited by other societies may also be considered eligible. If there is no person with such accreditation who can sign this form then the applicant should submit a letter from the head of department on departmental headed paper, which includes the same statements of verification.
  • Applicants must submit 25 anonymised but otherwise complete cardiac CT reports. These should have been supervised and reported by the applicant in a hospital/clinic setting, not as part of a course or online learning. These must include scan indications, date, scan technique, dose length product and findings. Please note that a logbook of findings is not acceptable – we require actual reports. These reports should be submitted as a single document.  An example of what is required for these 25 cases is provided here
  • Evidence of 20 hours Category 1 Continuing Professional Development must be submitted. These must have been acquired within 36 months of the application date.
  • 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 then be credited an appropriate proportion of the CPD value of the meeting certificate.

Applicants applying directly for Level 2 Clinical Practitioner accreditation

  • All cardiovascular CT clinical practitioners must have received core training in the technique and BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Initial accreditation is designed to evidence this. Applicants without BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Initial accreditation wishing to apply directly for Level 2 Clinical Practitioner Accreditation must still demonstrate that they have received the same core training by completing this section.

Two methods are available to evidence core cardiovascular CT training (only 1 method is required):

  • Completion of the ’Core cardiovascular CT training’ form. This should be signed by a practitioner accredited to BSCI/BSCCT Level 2 Experienced standard or level 3, SCCT Level 3 or EACVI Level 3 standard. At the discretion of the Accreditation Committee, practitioners accredited by other societies may also be considered eligible.

Or

  • Provision of CPD certificates for lectures, online training and/or courses that demonstrably cover:
  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.

Fees

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 Experienced

  • BSCI/BSCCT member £175
  • Non members £250
  • Applications will be processed within 8 weeks

Level 2 Experienced Fast Track

  • BSCI/BSCCT member £275
  • Non member £350
  • Applications will be processed within 2 weeks

For those submitting a fast track application the 10 day turn-around 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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