Ensure you are equipped to identify and address the health consequences from possible military environment exposures in U.S. Veterans by earning certification in Military Environmental Exposures from ACPM. Start your journey to achieving this career milestone today: create an ACPM user account as either a VA professional or non-VA professional now.
About the Certification
A multifaceted and diverse population, the more than 17 million Veterans of the U.S. military face many unique health challenges. Ensuring all providers, including those outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system, can effectively identify and treat health issues that are of concern to Veterans will make a significant impact in their quality of life. While mental health concerns, post-traumatic stress and substance use disorders are high-visibility areas of concern for Veterans and their providers, the health consequences from possible military environmental exposures may go unrecognized.
During the course of their service, Veterans may have been exposed to a range of chemical, physical and environmental hazards. However, many providers are not trained to ask about possible environmental exposures to address health concerns. Equipping all providers from the VA system and Department of Defense, as well as clinicians in general health systems from around the country, with the training and knowledge necessary to provide the highest level of care possible in regards to these exposures is a critical component of Veterans health care.
The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) is proud to partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide Level I and Level II certification training programs in Military Environmental Exposures. The Level I certification, now available, is a five-module program that provides a basic level of competence for all providers and will equip each participant with the skills and knowledge needed in order to effectively identify, treat and manage the effects of environmental exposures for this significant population.
The advanced Level II certification, to be released soon, builds on this knowledge and expertise. It content consists of a series of case studies and clinical exposure scenarios to equip providers with the ability to share, disseminate knowledge and strengthen the skills of other environmental exposure experts on military environmental exposures.
Each certification is earned upon successful completion of a comprehensive exam taken via the ACPM learning management system.
The five modules in the Level 1 certification program are:
- Module 1: Assessing Deployment Related Environmental Exposures
- Module 2: Airborne Hazards
- Module 3: Gulf War Illness
- Module 4: Chronic Multi-sympton Illness
- Module 5: Depleted Uranium and Toxic Embedded Fragments
As one of the leading organizations supporting prevention and public health, ACPM is proud to partner with the VA to ensure providers throughout the country are equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge as it relates to potentially toxic exposures. In addition to the solid foundation in health concerns related to potentially toxic exposures, this certification program by ACPM is also an opportunity for providers to earn 5.75 Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits to help maintain state licensure and specialty board certification.
How to Get Started
To earn this valuable new certification, participants must:
- Create an account with ACPM:
- Successfully complete all five modules within the VA Talent Management System (TMS) or TrainingFinder Real-time Affiliate Integrated Network (TRAIN), and upload the certification of completion for each module within the ACPM account.
- Successfully complete the certification exam, hosted on ACPM’s learning management system.
The five modules are available on-demand and may be completed according to each participant’s personal schedule. To ensure the integrity of the certification program, once a participant begins the program, they must complete all modules and the certification exam within a six-month period. Failure to complete all components with the six-month time frame will result in an individual needing to re-take individual models in order to sit for the certification exam.
If you have already completed one or more modules outside the six-month time frame, you can still be eligible for certification! To have these completed courses applied to the Military Environmental Exposures Certification, please contact Clara Richards at crichards@acpm.org. You will need to complete the remaining modules within the next six months.