American Health Source

NCBA

National Board Certification, Professional Excellence at the Highest Level

In 1998 the AHS testing and examination affiliate, the National Board Certification Agency (NBCA), developed their first national board examination, an entry level medical massage therapy exam. This examination measures professional accomplishments for medical massage therapists who have learned evidence based massage therapy.

The NBCA also developed an exam for medical manual therapists, the Diplomat examination for national board certification. This exam is a difficult six hour multi-level examination. This demanding examination is modeled after exams that are provided to manual therapy physicians and individuals practicing health care at the masters and doctoral level. Diplomate training and testing is a routine practice in medicine, chiropractic and many allied health care professions. The NBCA was the first to bring this professional status to the massage and manual therapist.

Since 1998, the National Board Certification Agency has developed examinations for national board certification in functional neurology, medical acupuncture, manual medicine, mobilization therapy, medical assisting, personal training/sports science, holistic health care, and lymphedema technician for the purpose of:

Establishing measurable training and educational standards in complementary, alternative, and allied health care.
Establishing evidence based educational curriculum and practices as a vital professional ethic.
Recognizing the competency, and rewarding the accomplishments, of professional practitioners.
Recognizing qualified professional national board certified physicians, practitioners, and therapists.

Exam Statistical Evaluation through Michigan State University

In 2005 the Center for Statistical Training and Consulting at Michigan State University completed the evaluation and assessment of the NBCA Medical Massage National Board Certification Examination. The completion of the statistical evaluation process adds credibility to the exam and makes it legally defensible. Since 2006, all NBCA exams undergo the process of statistical evaluation, assessment, and job task analysis.

These efforts are designed to provide the complementary, alternative and allied health care practitioner with the professional credentials needed to gain access to the growing opportunities and jobs that are becoming increasingly available to competently trained professionals.

The NBCA has developed professional national board certification exams for the following associations: