Rules for certification of ESHRE clinical embryologists

1. The application

1.1 ESHRE embryology certification is available to ESHRE members only. A total maximum of 360 applicants can be accepted to sit the exam.

1.2 The next online applications for the 2023 exam will be available from 10 October until 2 December 2022, or until the maximum capacity is reached. Your electronic application form must be submitted by 2 December 2022 (23:59 CET) at the latest. If the maximum number of applications is reached before the deadline, complete applications will be added to the waiting list. In January and February all submitted applications, for which the exam fee has been received, will be reviewed by the Embryology Certification Steering Committee. As soon as your application is accepted, this will be communicated via the application platform only. Declined or cancelled applications will be replaced by applications from the waiting list until 31 March 2023. By the end of April, all applicants will be informed whether their application to sit the exam has been accepted.

1.3 All applicants must guarantee that they truly fulfil the required criteria for the “Clinical” (basic level) or “Senior Clinical” (advanced level) Embryologist certification as stated below:

Please note that in order to be accepted for the exam, ALL requirements need to be fulfilled.

2. University degrees 

2.1 The Embryology Certification Steering Committee requires an independent recognition of university degrees. Therefore, all applicants will need to have their highest university degree validated by EP-NUFFIC (the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education, http://www.epnuffic.nl/en). When making credential evaluations, EP-NUFFIC uses the criteria and procedures considered as 'good practice' by the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
Only validated degrees will be allowed for the exam. The validation process will be coordinated by ESHRE.
The EP-NUFFIC validation report will become available in the applicant’s personal account.
Note: Some Masters courses do not fit the criteria of official national university degree, therefore not all Masters courses will be validated as such by EP-NUFFIC. For example, a Spanish so-called “título propio”, although possibly accepted by employers to represent a certain level of competency, is not recognised as an official Master degree according to Spanish regulations.
Always include your BSc diploma and corresponding transcript in order to avoid extra costs of a second validation procedure.

2.2 All relevant university degrees (BSc, MSc, PhD), including academic transcripts and a CV according to the provided format or Europass format (in ENGLISH only, other CV formats will NOT be accepted) must be submitted in the online application form and will be forwarded to EP-NUFFIC for validation. Please check with EP-NUFFIC regarding the need for an official English translation of your diploma before uploading to the ESHRE website.

2.3 Applicants must be able, if requested, to provide ESHRE with originals or verified copies of results of university degrees or any other valid documentation.

2.4 The name stated on your ID/passport should be the same as the one on your diploma. All name changes need to be clarified with official documents.

3. Working experience & logbook 

3.1 Applicants who are no longer working as clinical embryologists can still apply for a certificate, provided they worked for at least 3 or 6 years according to their intended application, and ended their last position no longer than 2 years before the exam date.

3.2 When filling out the application form you also have to show in a logbook that you have performed a minimum number of treatments. This logbook should state how many treatment cycles you have performed (including the start and end dates of performance of each of the 9 procedures listed in the requirements). You may need different logbooks if you changed your working place. In that case, each logbook must be verified and signed by the respective applicant’s supervisor in order to guarantee its authenticity. If you have changed clinics, and need to submit data from more than one clinic, then each set of data must be verified and signed by the laboratory supervisors from each clinic. Applicants applying for the first time, must ensure their logbooks are in the provided format (other logbook formats will NOT be accepted). Applicants who have been accepted for this exam before must update their most recent logbook according to the provided format. Previously accepted logbooks can be accepted, provided they still meet the current requirements.

3.3 A minimum of 50 cases/cycles per procedure is required for all of the 9 procedures.

3.4 An experience of three years (*) (clinical) /six years (*) (senior clinical) is required for at least 5 out of 9 procedures.
(*) Equivalent of full-time employment

3.5 The information from filled-in application forms (including CVs) and logbooks may be verified with the supervisor(s) and/or reference(s) by ESHRE. In this respect, ESHRE shall also be entitled to send the logbook to the supervisor(s) and/or references, notwithstanding the exclusion of any personal data of patients or any confidential information in general.

Furthermore, any information with regard to your working experience, included in the submitted CV and/or logbook, may be verified by ESHRE with any person or clinic mentioned on your CV and/or logbook.

3.6 The current supervisor must be a senior professional working at the same clinic where you work. This person must have the ability to guarantee the correctness of the logbook data, and should preferably be an ESHRE member and an ESHRE certified clinical embryologist. In exceptional circumstances, the current supervisor can be another ART professional working in the same clinic, provided that this person is an ESHRE member and can guarantee that you have actually performed the work recorded in your logbook.
Supervisors should be agreeable to be contacted to verify information.

3.7 A “reference” is a professional in the field of reproductive medicine who knows the applicant and who the Embryology Certification Committee (EmCC) can contact in case there is a problem with the application to verify any declarations. At least one reference must be an ESHRE member and preferably an ESHRE certified clinical embryologist. References must be different from logbook supervisors. The applicant undertakes to receive a prior written and informed consent from the references and the supervisor(s) regarding the use of their personal data.

3.8 In accordance with the European GDPR-law, both the supervisor(s) and the references will be notified by ESHRE that their names are mentioned in your logbook and application forms. If your supervisor or reference does not support your application, it may be rejected.

3.9 If the submitted information turns out to be incorrect or false, the application will be considered null and void and will be considered as fraud and thus rejected. You will no longer be allowed to take the exam, to be evaluated, and/or every certificate/ accreditation issued by ESHRE to you will irrevocably be withdrawn. The relevant Certification Steering Committee will have the authority to impose at its own discretion adequate sanctions on you in case of fraud.

3.10 Logbook requirements
For each clinic, a separate logbook needs to be filled in the online platform, printed from the platform and signed by the respective laboratory supervisor.

The supervisor(s) of the most recent logbook will also be asked for a digital confirmation of their signature. It’s the applicants responsibility to follow up on this confirmation. If no confirmation is received, the application cannot be accepted.

Minimum number of cases for application as Clinical Embryologist or Senior Clinical Embryologist: 

Procedures

Please note that ALL 9 procedures need to be included in your logbook.

The start date of each procedure should be the date the candidate started performing the respective procedure in clinical practice at that clinic, NOT the date of starting the working contract.

If you are still active in the laboratory until December of the application year, you can state "still ongoing" in the "stop date".

Total number of own clinical cycles in this clinic: Total number of clinical cycles performed by yourself since the start of your employment in this clinic
Total number of cycles performed in the clinic in 2022 only: Total number of clinical cycles performed in the clinic (by yourself and others) in 2022 only (required for your most recent logbook only)

Example of how to fill in the logbook(s):

Clinic: (name) …

Name and signature supervisor

__________________________________

Name and signature applicant

__________________________________

4. The exam 

4.1 The exam will be in English.

4.2 During the exam, the participant must behave according to currently stated rules (including rules of silence, no communication with any other person, etc). If fraud/inappropriate behaviour is detected during the exam, the participant will be forced to terminate the exam and leave the (virtual) exam room. In such cases the exam will be considered invalid. In case the infraction is discovered afterwards, the certificate can be revoked. All detected cases of fraud/inappropriate behaviour discovered during or after the exam will result in exclusion from future ESHRE activities.

4.3 Participants will have to accept the "online home exam policy" before starting the exam.

4.4 The exam results will be released to the participant. The pass mark is the minimum score that is required for a candidate to pass the exam. For calculation of the pass mark, standardised objective methods will be used. The resulting outcome is not negotiable.

4.5 Exam questions represent ESHRE's intellectual property. Due to the risk of abuse, participants will not be able to see the exam afterwards or have access to the correct answers.

4.6 Applicants will be allowed only three consecutive attempts at sitting the same exam level. If an applicant is accepted to sit the exam, but does not attend the exam and has not informed ESHRE about the non-attendance before the exam has started, this will be counted as one of the attempts.

4.7 Participants will not be allowed to switch to another exam level on the day of the exam.

4.8 In exceptional cases, complaints will be evaluated by the Embryology Certification Steering Committee, and if necessary, the ESHRE Executive Committee. The decision of the Executive Committee is final.

4.9 If fraud or cheating is suspected ESHRE will discuss the possible consequences with its legal advisors