Newswise — The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), a leading provider of medical programs geared toward occupational and environmental medicine health professionals, has announced its schedule of in-person and on-line training for commercial driver medical examiners (CDMEs). These courses meet Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) training requirements for examiners who wish to be listed on FMCSA’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME).
The National Registry is a new FMCSA program that requires all medical examiners who wish to perform physical examinations for interstate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers to be trained and certified in FMCSA physical qualification standards. Only medical examiners who complete the training and successfully pass the test will be included in an on-line National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME). After May 21, 2014, only those medical examiners who are listed on the NRCME will be able to perform CMV driver examinations.
ACOEM has long been concerned about the process for determining the medical fitness of commercial motor vehicle operators and has offered its renowned Commercial Driver Medical Examiner training course since 2000. Led by experts in transportation medicine, this ACCME-accredited course has been updated to meet the FMCSA training requirements and the College is listed as an “Accredited Training Organization” for the NRCME. Upon satisfactory completion of this course, those eligible to serve as examiners will be prepared and able to sit for the NRCME certification examination.
“With more than 8 million truck and bus drivers, CDMEs play a vital role in promoting the safety of America's roadways by ensuring that commercial motor vehicle operators are physically qualified to drive,” said course director Natalie Hartenbaum, MD, leading expert in transportation medicine and editor of The DOT Medical Examination, 5th ed. “Because drivers have medical conditions that may impair their physical skills, alertness, and/or decision-making abilities, certain individuals should not operate vehicles, and medical examiners must be well trained in order to understand the impact that medical conditions and treatments may have on driver safety.”
ACOEM's current in-person CDME training will be held September 28, 2012, in Philadelphia; November 9, 2012, in Atlanta; and March 8, 2013, in Los Angeles. Additional 2013 dates to be added early fall 2012.
The on-line CDME training, also developed by Dr. Hartenbaum, contains the same material as the in-person training. On-line training consists of pre-reading materials, a series of 9 webinars, and post-reading materials. The first webinar will be offered August 23.
Contact ACOEM at [email protected] for more information about training opportunities.
----About ACOEM — ACOEM (www.acoem.org), an international medical society of more than 4,000 occupational physicians and other health care professionals, provides leadership to promote optimal health and safety of workers, workplaces, and environments.
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