Recertification - What a Scam!!!

Well, it's time to re certifiy for my Surgical Technologist/Surgical First Assistant. I'm not sure what this association does for me (besides take my money and print up a card that says I'm a CST/CFA.) They want $400 to process my CEu's....classes I paid for to get the CEU's in the first place. As a CFA (Certified First Assistant), I need 100 CEU's. every 6 years. Since I became certified way back in the early '80's, I've just taken the certification exam to recertify every 6 years (I take tests well...they don't psyche me out at all!) Well, they've certainly jacked the price up for that now too!!! $499 for the Surgical Technologist Certificaton Exam, and $550 for thr First Assistant Certification Exam. (Thank God, I only need to take one exam...The first Assistant exam will cover both CST and CFA!)
Here's the kicker. As a nurse, I only need 25 CEUs every 2 years, and the board of nursing doesn't need to process them for me at all. I just need to keep them on file for 4 years, in case I'm audited. My nursing license fee is $48.

The scam stink waves are rolling off my computer screen....

The sad thing is...I have to keep my nursing license current, to be able to do my job and work in the operating room. I don't need to be a Certified Surgical Technologist or a Certified First Assistant to do my job in the operating room. It's just a matter of personal pride for me (I don't get a higher wage for being certified.) I have a feeling that this will be the last time I recertify. I hope to retire in 9 to 10 years, and that money will be MUCH better spent on retirement! lol!

Who oversees this stuff? Can you start a revolt? I'll help -- I'm just itchin' for a good revolution!

I had to let my massage therapist license lapse because we have to have 24 CEUs every 2 years, 42 for the Nationals, and pay $250 for our state fee and another fifty or a hundred for our Nationals, plus $239 a year for insurance. I am pretty sure what I made during the time I was licensed in NC, I barely even earned that much. It is ridiculous the amount of money you have to shell out to work.

I am a Real Estate and Title Production Closing Specialist and must be certified, not only by my professional trade organization but also by the State of Virginia, where I live and work.

*sigh* It seems such a shame that professional organizations charge such outrageous fees for stuff like this, doesn't it? I have to take a re-cert every two years in my profession and the cost is $120 ~just~ for the exam!! The membership fees for the association are extra (about $100 a year, includes a "priority placement" on their listing of members who do what I do) and any supplies I need (must buy them through the association as they are not available to "the general public") are also extra and priced out of this world!

Yet, the fee structure for people who do what I do most certainly ~has not~ increased in the 5 years I've been certified. I can still only charge a certain amount for my skills and even then, these people who seek my skills will try to negotiate the fee, usually to my disadvantage. If I want the work, I have to accept what they offer, which is usually anywhere from $25 to $50 less than what I think I am worth considering the large amounts of money I generate for these companies. In the past when I was working full time, it wasn't unusual for me to close over a million dollars worth of loans in one day!!!

Yes, it may be a scam and it does tick me off, but it also gives me more than just a small bit of pride to know that of the people in my area who do my job, I am one of only 3 with my "bought and paid for" qualifications. So, I pay the fees, keep the receipts and take it all off on my taxes against my income at the end of the year. And because I do this, I keep working. *sigh*

They're always trying to get us to take certification exams for various things. I have no interest, thank you. Why would I bust my butt and my wallet for that? Like you, I wouldn't get paid more, so there's really no incentive.

The EMT's are expencive too, and since a woman can't work at our fire department its a waste of money to get recertified! You have to have 100 hour in ER and 100 on bus, which I wouldn't get paid for since woman can't work at the fire department! The NREMT was only 70 dollars thank god, but the class is 500! Oh well... theres nothing I can do until the fire department has the facilities to employ females

I'm a Registered Nurse in Manitoba, Canada and we have to renew our licenses every year. The cost for the 2008 renewal was $337.49. I'm not sure how much it is for 2009, but guaranteed that it will be more!

In addition to the annual fee we have to have 1125 practice hours logged for the immediate 5 year period. If you don't, you forfeit your license and have to take a year long refresher course and then rewrite the exam. As of 2008 the fee to write the RN exam was $502.93.

In addition to the practice hour requirement, we have to have completed the requirement of the CRNM Continuing Competence Program which involves:

- a completed self-assessment, including identifying one strength and one area for development in each standard;

- based on the identified area for self-development in the self-assessment, develop and implement a self-development plan. The plan includes at least one professional development goal, documentation of professional development learning activities and evaluation of the impact of the completed learning act on nursing practice.

We don't have to submit the self assessment form, but we have to have it filled out and on hand in the event that we are audited and asked for it, and they do audit us from time-to-time.

By contrast, in Ontario, Canada, they only have to renew their license every 3 years and the fee for that is $122.66. Their RN exam is also cheaper at $421.97. And they don't have to complete a self assessment every year either.

I have mixed feelings with the certifications. Certification and licensing means a level of education and training has been attained and passed. In my field, Diagnostic Imaging, no registrations means no job and insurance companies are demanding that facilities provide them with proof that technologists are registered and certified. I have an annual fee of over $80 for the modalities I'm trained in, I have to have 24 CE credits over a two year period. I subscribe to a technical journal that provides the CE courses and it's over $100 a year. If I don't get the CE's, I'm put on probation until I get the credits made up and they add an additional 10 credits onto the total. I've been audited to check on my CE's. Any felony convictions and I loose my license. I've taken my boards for x-ray, CT and MR and each time the price has increased tremendously. The state gets it's share, I have to be certified every two years and it's over $60. The state rubberstamps my national licensing, they don't earn the fee I pay them. I feel like everyone wants a piece of me and they are certainly getting it.
With all that, I wouldn't want someone working one me or giving me tests that aren't registered or certified, especially in the medical field.