CARDUP was created with the goals of being responsive to the needs of the Canadian medical community from coast to coast and to the establishment of bilingual written and practical exams that reflect Canadian standards.
The Clinical Skills Assessment Process (CSAP) was established by CARDUP to ensure that Canadian Registered Diagnostic Sonographers have the knowledge and clinical skills necessary for entry level practice. This process which has been in use since 2006 provides an assurance to employers and the public that sonographers registered with CARDUP are competent entering into their profession.
CARDUP is currently introducing its own written examinations as a requirement for certification to supplement the Clinical Skills Assessment Process. CARDUP written examinations have a Canadian focus and are competency based which ensures that the credentialing exam is relevant to Canadian practice.
The CARDUP exams will be based upon the content of the National Competency Profile for Sonography. Certain competencies from within the NCP have been identified as “examinable”, as determined by their importance, their frequency-of-use, and the format of the exam.
A bank of exam questions has been developed to assess the examinable competencies, using standardized test-development methods. Each time an exam takes place, different questions will be used, and psychometric analysis will be applied to ensure that the exam is valid, reliable and free from bias.
All exams will be computer based and completed in secure, proctored facilities that are pre-arranged by CARDUP.
All exam questions will be in multiple-choice format, and many will be based upon images. Candidates will have the opportunity to move through the exam at their own pace (subject to the overall time limit), to answer questions, to skip questions, to flag questions for later review, and to change their responses until they exit the exam. The use of textbooks, notes, other resource materials or calculators will not be allowed. Candidates will not have access to the Internet while they are writing the exam.
The Core and Generalist Sonographer exams will be offered in the English language for the first time in May 2010. A second offering will take place in September 2010. Thereafter the exams will be offered 3 times each year, in January, May and September.
Arrangements are currently in the planning stage for the first offering of the Core and Generalist Sonographer exams in the French language. When they commence, the French exams will also be offered 3 times each year, coincident with the English exams.