USF College of Nursing to Offer Commercial Driver Medical Examiner Course for Health Professionals

University of South Florida College of Nursing is offering two sessions of Commercial Driver Medical Examiner Training Courses for health professionals on Nov. 9, 2013 and Feb. 15, 2014 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This training course,which will be held at USF College of Nursing in Tampa, allows medical examiners to understand and apply federal rules for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and motor coach driver medical examinations—to make sure drivers are physically and mentally fit to safely operate a CMV. The course will be offered to eligible medical examiners, which include advanced practice nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, and chiropractors.

The National Registry for Certified Medical Examiner (NRCME) recently issued a new rule, which requires that all healthcare practitioners who conduct medical examinations for CMV drivers are trained and certified by May 21, 2014—when the rule goes into effect.

To meet the needs of medical examiners in the Tampa Bay area, USF College of Nursing alums, Jean Aertker, DNP, ARNP-BC, COHN-S, FAANP, ’80, ‘84, and Wendy S. Paracka, MS, ARNP-BC, FNP, ’96, will teach the course as part of the College’s Continuing Education. Aertker and Paracka, who both run their own occupational health clinics in the Tampa Bay area, have taught this course to more than 700 health professionals around the country since June, 2013.

“USF College of Nursing has an excellent history for providing quality and timely Continuing Education programs, so, as alums, we asked top leaders at the College to bring this national training opportunity here,” Dr. Aertker said. “We are eager to help colleagues and other health professionals understand the new rules of this mandatory training program.”

This training, Dr. Aertker and Paracka covers all core-curriculum content required by NRCME focusing on eight topics including background, rationale, NRCME’s mission, and medical examiner’s role. They will also include sample test questions, videos, and case examples throughout the training.

“This course benefits the new examiner or the expert examiner who has been doing CMV exams for years but needs the training to become nationally certified,” Dr. Aertker said. “Anyone who completes this training now has also up to three years to take the exams. Therefore, current graduate students can take the course now and take the test later–once licensed as a qualified examiner.”

“As past contributors on the NRCME writing expert panels, we know that knowledge saves lives and keeps our highways safer,” Paracka said. “We are committed to sharing this new information with friends and colleagues that perform medical exams for CMV drivers. Our hope is that through our alumni network, we can help grow a community of passionate certified medical examiners.”

For more information and to register for the Nov. 9, 2013 course click here, and for the Feb. 14, 2014 course click here.