How to finish the California fluoroscopy CME requirement with Orbit

Find your fluoro license renewal form in the mail, and use this template to fill out your form. Include separate lines for radiation safety and fluoroscopy credits as described above. If your form includes Provider Contact Information, use [e-mail].

Need help getting started? Email us at [e-mail]

If you have a fluoroscopy license in California, this post is for you. Earn 10 fluoroscopy CME every 2 years to go with your fluoroscopy license renewal; 4 of these credits will be more specifically relate to radiation safety. Earning these credits with Orbit is easy, and also satisfies your CA Medical Board and specialty board credit requirements.

Tip: Your fluoroscopy license is officially called the X-Ray Supervisor and Operator Certificate. Each year, Orbit helps hundreds of physicians renew this certificate. Feel free to email [e-mail] for more help.

Context: The founding staff at Orbit includes radiologists who practice with fluoroscopy licenses in California, and teach radiology physics to more than half of resident physicians in radiology across the United States through Core Physics Review.

1. Sign up for Orbit Fluoro

Get started here, and select the 10-credit plan, which is perfectly sized for your renewal.

After signing up, go to your Profile view. Make sure your Specialty is set to your discipline (anesthesiology, internal medicine, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, radiology, urology, etc.).

Make sure you've installed both extensions on your Chrome browser - Orbit for Chrome and UBlock Origin - to maximize the sites eligible for credit.

2. Navigate to PubMed and read abstracts and full-text articles related to (A) fluoroscopy and (B) radiation safety

Now that you’re logged into Orbit, any peer-reviewed abstracts or articles you visit will count for credit. Beginning your exploration from PubMed is the most efficient way to explore reputable, peer-reviewed, current, and open-access articles. Either abstracts on radiation safety or the full-text version of the article count for 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

(A) Read 12 articles (6 credits) related broadly to fluoroscopy in clinical practice, i.e. “the application of x-ray to the human body”. Feel free to include abstracts or articles that use fluoroscopy as it relates to your scope of practice.

(B) Read 8 articles (4 credits) on radiation safety in fluoroscopy. One of the best articles on this topic is an open-access tutorial by Edward Nickoloff. Dr. Nickoloff passed away March 11, 2019 and this paper is part of his legacy to radiology physics education. You’ll find others through PubMed.

3. Redeem your articles using the Fluoroscopy tag

Every 10 minutes, any new abstracts and articles you’ve read for at least 20 seconds are batch delivered to your feed (Earn tab) on Orbit. You don’t have to check the feed constantly, but once you’re ready to convert all of your article and abstract visits into Fluoroscopy credit, your login to the feed and your eligible abstracts and articles will be waiting for you to redeem:

(A) Click “Redeem”

(B) Verify the information on the redeem form.

(C) Scroll to the bottom of the redeem form. Select the fluoroscopy tag.

(D) Click "Post"

Important: Tag 12 articles with "fluoroscopy" and 8 articles with "radiation safety". Of the 20 abstracts/articles you select and read, 8 of those articles must relate to radiation safety in fluoroscopy to satisfy the renewal requirement.

4. Complete and submit your Fluoroscopy renewal form

The form will ask for information about your fluoroscopy CME. Here is how you should designate the course title, provider, contact information, and group:

Be sure to use separate lines for radiation safety and fluoroscopy. The credit you earn through Orbit is AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ which is accepted by the Medical Board of California, which is why you're choosing Group (b).

If you're ever audited by the RHB, they require that you submit certificates for the relevant time period, which is two years preceding your fluoro license expiration date. Your specialty certificates (designating fluoroscopy and radiation safety) are available to you from the Submit tab for any specific date interval. You can also generate a detailed audit report there.

References

[1] R. Srinivasan, "How I finish my California fluoroscopy credits every two years", Medium, [link]

[2] Orbit Staff, "Fluoroscopy license renewal in California — 3 tips to make it easy", Medium, [link]

[3] Certification FAQs, RHB/CDPH, accessed 6/3/19 [here]

[4] Continuing Education Credit Information, RHB/CDPH, accessed 6/3/19 [here]