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Academy of Surgical Research :: Certification Exams
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Guidelines and Requirements for the SRA, SRT and SRS Certification Exams
Application Process:
- Applications must arrive by April 1st (deadline has been extended to April 15th) and will be reviewed by June 1st.
- Acceptance/Rejection letters will be mailed by July 1st.
- The review may be extended for applications that are not initially accepted but may be with further clarification from the applicant.
- The following samples are now available on the website for review and to be used by the applicant seeking certification when submitting the necessary forms: New Application Form, New CEU Form, Surgery Case Log Form, Anesthesia Case Log Form, Completed Sample of the Surgery and Anesthesia Case Log Forms, Samples of Surgery and Anesthesia Narratives, Sample Questions for the SRS, SRT, and SRA Exams, Distribution of Questions for the Exams, and a new List of References.
- A Study Guide is available for review.
To document surgical and anesthetist experience the candidate for SRA, SRT, or SRS certification is required to keep a log that lists in detail the surgery or anesthesia performed, animal species, candidates role or responsibility, and the outcome. For each certification level, a log of at least 12 months must be kept, recorded and submitted as part of the application process. This log period will consist of any 12 months within a 36-month period immediately prior to submission of an application. This surgical log also reinforces the importance of outcomes monitoring as a life-long responsibility of surgeons performing aseptic survival surgery. It is the responsibility of the SRA, SRT, and SRS candidates’ organization to review and attest to the accuracy of the candidate’s surgical logs by signing the surgical logs. For detailed log descriptions and requirements please see below.
We are pleased to announce a new, electronic submission process to apply to sit for one of our exams starting this year.
To utilize the on-line application, upload your completed application form (with credit card information to cover the $200 non-refundable application fee), case log, and narratives to the following address:
https://www.mydocsonline.com//scripts/cupload.dll?id=ASRftp
This is a secure site and your personal information will be kept confidential.
If you need to pay by check, submit your $200 non-refundable application fee with a copy of your completed application to the ASR headquarters and upload your documents as noted above. Once your payment has been received and processed, your application will be reviewed.
All applicants that pass the exam will be required to be a member of ASR. Dues ($245) must be paid annually to keep your certification current. Invoices will be mailed in October.
All applicants that pass the exam are required to complete 15 continuing education units during a two year period.
Although the SRS Program and the ASR do not directly provide this training, they do monitor the extent and level of training and documentation of experience and success of surgical outcomes of the individual candidates by reviewing the candidate’s application.
SRA Level: Surgical Research Anesthetist
Case Log:
- The case logs for the SRA will consist of anesthesia case-logs rather that the current SRS surgical case log. This will consisting of 15 cases where the candidate serves as anesthetist. Acceptable cases must be of longer than 30 minutes of surgical duration, have had the applicant present from induction through recovery, must have the applicant primarily acting as the anesthetist and must have a minimum of monitoring to include heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature, and at least one of the following parameters: blood pressure, SaO2, Expiratory CO2, Inspiratory CO2. Rodents will require justification from the applicant to prevent inclusion of common “stick and leave” anesthetic regimens.
Narratives:
- The narrative cases will include 2 anesthesia case reports reflected in the case log including a detailed description of actions taken and changes in the animal’s anesthesia state during a surgical procedure as well as the trends evinced during the procedure and their likely causes.
Narratives should comprehensively describe all aspects of the anaesthetic protocol and execution to include the following:
- Drug Regimens including doses, routes of administration and timing related to the surgical procedure (prior to surgery, during the procedure, etc.) for pre-anesthetic, anesthetic, analgesic, and antibiotic drugs.
- The complete anesthetic and analgesic regimen, including justification for the regimen itself, and the methods used to monitor the animal’s condition and anesthetic depth pre-operatively, intra-operatively, and immediately post-operatively.
- A description of the animal’s condition during the procedure in linear format including what adjustments were made in drug administration, the reasons for these changes, and the results.
- Animal preparation for surgery including areas clipped, surgical positioning, antiseptic prep regimen, fluid therapy and any complications noted during the preparation.
- An overall assessment of the efficacy of the anesthetic protocol for the animal and what changes, if any, were made based on the results.
- Post-operative monitoring and pain assessment including species appropriate signs of pain and distress to be observed for and duration of monitoring including follow up procedures and care.
- Acceptable survival surgical procedures are required for the SRA logs and narratives, which involves a minimum of 72 hours of survival post-surgery before euthanasia.
SRT Level: Surgical Research Technician
Case Log:
The case log includes a minimum of 12 survival, aseptically performed procedures that must be at least Level 1 procedures as defined below for SRS Level 1 applicants.
Level 1 procedure are defined as:
Procedures that are basic, minor procedures such as peripheral vascular cannulations, castrations, large reservoir subcutaneous pump implantation, and/or subcutaneous radio-telemetry device placement, etc. Examples of procedures that do not qualify as level 1 procedures are implantation of subcutaneous ID chips or any procedure using an injectable type device. Acting as a sterile anesthetist on highly complex procedures may be accepted towards this total so long as the duties were significant (including at a minimum substantial dissection and closure) and are adequately described in the entry. The case log must include the type of procedure, the date of the procedure, the species and sex involved, a record of any complications and their treatment, whether the procedure was performed aseptically, the final disposition of the animal, and the candidate’s role.
The case log must reflect a minimum of Level 1 procedures.
Narratives:
These must appear in narrative form and must be reflected in the case log.
- Narratives should comprehensively describe all aspects of the procedure to include the following:
- Drug Regimens including doses, routes of administration and timing related to the surgical procedure (prior to surgery, during the procedure, etc.) for pre-anesthetic, analgesic, and antibiotic drugs
- The complete anesthetic and analgesic regimen, including justification for the regimen itself, and the methods used to monitor the animal’s condition and anesthetic depth pre-operatively, intra-operatively, and immediately post-operatively
- Animal preparation for surgery including areas clipped, surgical positioning, and the antiseptic prep regimen
- Detailed description of the surgical technique including details of the incision creation and dissection including the tissues encountered, methods and critical instruments used during the procedure, and closure techniques including suture patterns and materials.
- Acceptable survival surgical procedures involve a minimum of 72 hours of survival post-surgery before euthanasia.
- Post-operative monitoring and pain assessment including species appropriate signs of pain and distress to be observed for and duration of monitoring and follow up treatments
- These clarifications are necessary, as a significant portion of the applicants do not include enough data to permit initial acceptance.
SRS Level: Surgical Research Specialist
Case Log:
SRS applicants must have a minimum of 24 procedures of level 2 complexities. There must be at least two different procedures reflected in this total with the exception listed below and the applicant must have acted as the primary surgeon.
Level 2 procedures are defined as:
- Procedures are major or more complex procedures including those that breach a body cavity, vascular anastamosis, involve significant orthopedic surgery, or involve significant CNS manipulation such as intra-thecal cannulations and nerve anastamosis.
- The case log must reflect a minimum of two different animal species, at least one of which should be a species other than a rat and mouse OR include 24 Level 2 procedures and demonstrate 4 different procedures.
- The case log must include the type of procedure, the date of the procedure, the species and sex involved, a record of any complications and their treatment, whether the procedure was performed aseptically, the final disposition of the animal, and the candidate’s role. If the animal is transferred to other personnel post-surgically this observation may be included in lieu of reporting the final disposition of the animal.
- Acceptable survival surgical procedures involve a minimum of 72 hours of survival post-surgery before euthanasia.
Narrative:
The narrative for SRS is the same as SRT with the exception of the surgical procedure, species and number of surgeries, as described above.
See above SRT – Narratives for description of items to be included in written narratives for SRS.
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