Article I: Name
Article II: Purpose
Article III: Structure of the Organization
Article IV: Duties of the College
Article V: Revenue Resources of Certification Organization
Article VI: Requirements for Certification Examination
Article VII: Responsibilities to Applicants for Certification or Recertification
Article VIII: Responsibilities to the Public and to Employers of Certified Practitioners
Article IX: Official Classification
Article X: Recertification Program
Article XI: Disposition of Complaints
Article XII: Amendments
Article XIV: Parliamentary Authority
Article I: Name
1. This organization shall be called the American College of Functional Neurology, Inc. hereinafter referred to as the College.
Article II: Purpose
1. The purpose of the certification program of the American College of Functional Neurology shall be to conduct certification activities in a manner that upholds standards for competent practice in the health care specialty of Functional Neurology and various neurological subspecialties. The College shall also conduct recertification designed to enhance the continued competence of the individual.
2. The population of certificants shall be Physicians who have completed specialist level training in Neurology from an institutional program approved by the American College of Functional Neurology of a minimum of one hundred fifty 350 credit hours in Neurology and who have demonstrated competency in both written and practical examinations administered by the College.
3. The College shall administer examinations for the purpose of evaluating the candidate’s proficiency in Functional Neurology and subspecialties and shall issue the credential of FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGY (FACFN) to those candidates who are successful in its College examinations.
Article III: Structure of the Organization
1. The certification program of the American College of Functional Neurology shall be structured and governed in ways that are appropriate for the specialty of Functional Neurology and shall ensure autonomy in decision making over essential certification activities including eligibility standards; the development,administration, and scoring of the assessment instruments; selection of personnel; and operational processes.
2. The development, administration, and scoring of assessment instruments shall promote the purpose of the certification program of the American College of Functional Neurology.
3. The structure and governance of the certification program of the American College of Functional Neurology shall reflect the interests of the general public in the credential.
4. The College Fellowship Certification Board shall consist of a minimum of five (5) members and additional members shall be added by increments of two (2). These members shall be appointed from those Fellows of the College who are in good standing.
5. Candidates for College positions must be certified by the College.
6. A nominating committee shall submit names of qualified Fellows for consideration by the College.
7. All terms of office shall be for a period of 60 months. Terms shall be staggered.
8. The College Fellowship Certification Board shall elect a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer on an annual basis. The Immediate Past President shall also serve on the Executive Committee of the College.
9. A Minimum of two (2) names shall be submitted for each vacancy on the College Fellowship Certification Board.
10. The American College of Functional Neurology shall be incorporated as an independent certification agency.
11. The governance structure, policies, and procedures of the College shall provide for autonomy in decision making regarding important aspects of the certification program, such as eligibility standards; the development, administration, and scoring of the assessment instruments; selection of personnel; and operational processes.
12. The governance of the College shall reflect the interests of the general public in the credential.
13. The governance of the College shall reflect the interests of health care professionals in the credential.
Article IV: Duties of the College
1. To collect examination fees, membership fees, certification fees and recertification fees.
2. To provide for the fiscal management of the organization.
3. To provide no fewer than two (2) College members for the purpose of conducting examinations.
4. To keep records of all examinations administered by the College.
5. To issue certificates to candidates who successfully pass the examination designating them as Fellows of the American College of Functional Neurology (FACFN).
6. To initiate a job analysis as needed in order to design and construct examinations and update education and training requirements and make recommendations to organizations sponsoring training for the candidates.
7. To design and construct examinations for certification in Functional neurology.
8. To assure validity and reliability of certification examinations through rigorous statistical analysis.
9. The College shall accept graduates of post doctoral neurology programs of a minimum of 350 credit hours from any ACFN approved Institution.
11. The American College of Functional Neurology shall maintain direct protection of essential certification decisions from undue influence.
12. To review and recommend changes to neurology education and training curriculum.
13. To maintain information for the public regarding the activities/policies of the College and the status of the certificants.
14. To protect the interests of the public, employers, and consumers seeking the services of Fellows of the College.
Article V: Revenue Resources of Certification Organization
1. Fees:
The examination fee shall be a non-refundable fee set by the College. All Fellows of the College shall pay an annual recertification fee of $150.00 on or before January 1st annually accompanied by their certificate of re-certification. Reexamination fees shall be the same as Article V.1.1.
2. Expenses:
The College shall be entitled to reimbursement for reasonable necessary and customary expenses incurred in the conduct of each elected office. The College shall determine expense provisions for its members and designated associate examiners and support staff during each examination period. The College shall determine expense provisions for its members and designated associate reviewers for the curriculum reviews of educational and training courses. The College shall provide for public information expenses including website and web mastering fees, printing costs, and dissemination of information to the public costs.
3. Fiscal Management
The College Treasurer will manage the day to day fiscal activities of the College. The College shall provide bonding of all officers having responsibility for College funds. The College shall maintain a checking account in the town of legal registration of the organization. All tax forms shall be filed annually by the Treasurer or a CPA. The fiscal year shall be from January 1 through December 30th each year.
4. Other
The College shall make every effort to obtain services from companies that do not discriminate on any basis. The College may enter into a research program that is grant funded so long as it does not present a conflict of interest in the certification or accreditation responsibilities of the College. The College may enter into grants for funds to maintain or expand the capacity of the College to fulfill its obligations to the public and the profession. The bookkeeping system shall be in accord with Uniform Grants Management Standards and Internal Revenue Service non-profit regulations. The College shall maintain liability insurance for the purposes of safeguarding the assets of the College against any legal actions.
Article VI: Requirements for Certification Examination
1. Annual Examination
1A job analysis of Functional Neurology will be used for the design of the examination. The examination will be administered at least once annually. The examination materials shall be handled in accord with appropriate standards. The examination and the test results will be subjected to rigorous reliability and validity analysis after each. These studies include a longitudinal component that assures performance consistency over time. The examination date will be set by the College. The location of the examination will be chosen by the College. Examinations shall be maintained in their original form for three years and then maintained permanently in write once read many (WORM) electronic form (CD-ROM) with at least 2 backup copies kept in separate fireproof locations.
2. Examination Fees.
Examination fees are non-refundable. Examination fees are set annually by the College. Examination fees must accompany application.
3. Application
Applications are available on line at the College Web Site and from the College Secretary. All deadlines are determined and set by the College. Application fees must accompany submission of application.
4. Requirements
Requirements for Fellowship Exams
- The applicant must hold a Doctoral Degree (MD, DO, DC, DPT, DPM, PhD, D.Sci) granted from an accredited college (USA) or its equivalent.
- The applicant must have completed Three hundred fifty (350) credit hours of training in Neurology from an Institution approved by the American College of Functional Neurology or from a CAGEN accredited institution.
- The applicant must possess a license or registration to practice a primary health care profession and be in good standing with the respective licensing/registration agency.
- The candidate must submit an application on a form specified by the Board within the Board designated deadline.
5. Rewriting Failed Parts of the Examination.
Failed parts must be rewritten within three (3) years of the failed examination part or the candidate must rewrite the entire examination unless special authorization by the College is received. The fee for rewriting failed parts of the examination will be set annually by the College.
8. Diplomas
All candidates passing the College examinations will receive Diplomas from the College certifying their status as a FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGY. Diplomas will indicate an individual Fellow number.
9. Public Information about the Certification Program
The College shall publish and make available a document clearly defining the certification and recertification responsibilities of the College, curriculum review responsibilities of the College, continuing education certification responsibilities of the College, Fellowship status of the certificants. The College shall publish and make available general descriptive materials on: procedures used in examination construction and validation; eligibility requirements and determination procedures; procedures of examination administration including exam dates and locations, fees, and reporting of results; procedures and requirements of recertification; disciplinary and grievance procedures. The College shall publish and make available a comprehensive summary or outline of information, knowledge or functions covered by the examination. The College shall publish and make available, at least annually, a summary of certification activities for each program including, at least, number of examination administrations, number examined, number passed, number failed, number certified, and number re-certified.
Article VII: Responsibilities to Applicants for Certification or Recertification
1. The College shall not discriminate among applicants for certification or recertification on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, disability, or marital status. This statement of nondiscrimination shall appear on all announcements for certification and recertification. To facilitate the College in providing for special accommodations, a section on the application shall request that the applicant indicate when and what special accommodations are necessary. These accommodations may include translators, readers, examinations in Braille, mobility adaptations, etc.
2. The College shall comply with all requirements of applicable federal and state laws (e.g. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) with respect to all certification and recertification activities and shall require compliance of all contractors and/or providers of services for the certification and recertification programs.
3. The College shall provide all applicants with copies of formalized procedures for application for, and attainment of, certification and recertification and shall uniformly follow and enforce such procedures for all applicants.
4. The College shall review eligibility criteria and application procedures biannually and as indicated by evaluations after each examination. The purpose of this review is to assure fair and equitable procedures.
5. The College shall provide competently proctored examination sites at least once annually.
6. A doctoral degree and license to practice are essential under the law and cannot be subsumed by any amount of alternative experience. The three hundred and fifty (350) accredited credit hours of study in Neurology must be satisfactorily completed.
7. The College, in the notification of examination results, shall provide applicants, both those failing the examination and those passing the examination, information on general content areas of deficiency.
8. The College shall implement the Policies and Procedures to assure that each applicant’s examination results are held confidential. However, the College will update the Fellow listing within three months after each examination so that the consumer may make informed choices about providers according to certification status as follows:
1. Fellow 2. Date Certified 3. Date Re-certified 4. Active or Inactive Status9. The College may extend reciprocity of certification to a physician whose experience, training, credentials and certification are deemed to be at the level of the Fellow of the American Board of Functional Neurology certification.
Article VIII: Responsibilities to the Public and to Employers of Certified Practitioners
1. The College shall demonstrate that the testing mechanism(s) adequately measure the knowledge and skill required for entry, maintenance and/or advancement in the specialty of Functional neurology. This is assured through appropriate job analysis, test construction based on specified content and verified as valid and reliable. The examinations shall cover knowledge areas central to Functional Neurology that demonstrate desired skills and treatment applications.
2. The College shall award certification only after the skill and knowledge of the individual have been evaluated and determined to be acceptable.
3. The College shall assure that its recertification program is designed to enhance the continued competence of the individual.
4. The College shall publish a current list of those persons certified in the program(s) including the name, certification designation, office address and telephone number of the Fellow, the date of initial certification, the date of recertification, and the current status (active, inactive, retired, suspended or revoked). This listing is to assist the public and other Fellows in making referral to certified clinicians and choice of accredited providers. No other information shall be made public.
5. The College shall discipline certificants for conduct deemed harmful to the public or inappropriate to the discipline. Any disciplinary action may be contested through the Disposition of Complaints process in Article XI.
Article IX: Official Classification
1. College Candidacy requirements are delineated in Article VI.
2. Board Certified Functional Neurologist as established by the College in Article VII.
3. Fellow of the American College of Functional Neurology.
- A physician who has satisfied the educational criteria, passed the College examination and paid all fees.
- A Fellow of the American College of Functional Neurology shall be referred to as a Board Certified Functional Neurologist or Fellow of the American College of Functional Neurology. He/she may use the College acronym FACFN.
- A Fellow of the American College of Functional Neurology must be re-certified every 5 years.
Article X: Recertification Program
1. The College shall implement a program for recertification of all Fellows.
2. The College shall demonstrate that the recertification program is designed to enhance the continued competence of the individual.
3. In order to assure the public that Fellows certified by the ACFN enhance their continued competency, the recertification program will be every five years (5years).
4. The public listing of Fellows will clearly indicate the Initial Certification date and Recertification Dates.
5. The College shall maintain and publish a listing of Fellows of the American College of Functional Neurology.
6. The College shall supply the Fellowship Register with a yearly listing of Fellows.
7. The recertification program
- In order to enhance continued competence, all Fellows must complete a minimum of 100 credit hours of continuing education in neurology every 5 years. All educational credits must be approved by the college.
- The Fellow may propose alternative methodology of recertification to the College which will demonstrate enhanced continued competence. Such proposals must be in writing to the College and must be accepted by the College as fulfilling criterion for recertification before being implemented by the Fellow.
- Fellows who do not comply with the recertification requirements of the College will not be listed in the current roster of Fellows and notified of their suspension by registered mail. The Fellow will be allowed to complete and demonstrate continued competence in the field of Functional Neurology by complying with the recertification requirements within six months of notification.
- Fellows who have not complied with the recertification requirements of the College for a period of 78 months since their last certification will be suspended from the current roster of Fellows and will be required to demonstrate continued competency by taking and passing the full College Fellowship Examination.
- Fellows are required to take an oral/practical Fellowship examination a minimum of every 10 years in order to demonstrate continual competency.
Article XI: Disposition of Complaints
If a complaint or dispute arises questioning a College action, or a complaint arises concerning a Fellow certified by the College, the following actions are to take place.
Administrative adjudication of a complaint/dispute.
- The complainant shall specifically state the complaint in writing and submit this document to the College Secretary for response by the College.
- The College shall respond within thirty (30) days to the submitted complaint.
- The complainant shall then have thirty (30) days to respond to the report of the College and submit additional information supportive of his complaint.
- The College shall then have thirty (30) days to respond to the complaint and additional information being submitted.
- The complainant shall then have thirty (30) days to request an Appeal for a Full Review College.
Appeal to a full Review College
- Formation. If the administrative adjudication is unsuccessful and the complainant requests it in writing, then a Review College shall be formed consisting of a Fellow of the American College of Functional Neurology in good standing who is not a member of the College; an individual who is either an attorney or trained in law, such as an arbitrator or hearing officer, designated by the College, an individual designated by the complainant.
- Procedure. The Chair of the Review College shall be the person designated by the College. The Review College shall remain neutral and shall act as a judicial tribunal to hear the dispute. The Review College shall set a date for a hearing and conduct a hearing at which time the College shall make a presentation concerning the dispute and the complainant or representative thereof shall make a presentation concerning the dispute. Witnesses, testimony and other evidence shall be presented to the Review College for its consideration. The Review College shall make a finding of facts and conclusions binding all parties, within sixty (60) days of the hearing.
- Costs. All costs for the Review College proceedings shall be borne and paid by the non-prevailing party, including but not limited to attorney’s fees and per diem expenses and remuneration of Review College members and witnesses. In order to initiate the proceedings, the complaining party shall post with the College a bond in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000 U.S.), unless, upon showing of good cause, the College determines a lesser amount appropriate. If the complaining party does not prevail, the bond amount shall be applied to the College’s costs and attorneys’ fees, and any balance shall be returned. Any costs and attorneys’ fees exceeding the bond amount shall be paid by, and may be recovered against, the complaining party.
Article XII: Amendments
Bylaws may be amended by the College Executive as needed.
All proposed amendments shall be mailed to all Fellows of the College who are current in their requirements at least thirty (30) days prior to such meeting.
Article XIV: Parliamentary Authority
Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, Current Edition, shall apply to all of the meetings of this College and to all questions of procedure and parliamentary law not specified in these Bylaws.