The
DACBN REPORT 
The Newsletter of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition (ACBN)
An Accredited Nutrition Certification Organization
“Public Safety, Quality Assurance, Clinical Competence”
July, 2008
By
Arthur A. Fierro, DC, DACBN
In This Issue:
The Value of Accreditation ……………………………………………..Page 1.
ACBN Goes Hi-Tech …………………………………………………...Page 2.
Application For Grants …………………………………………………Page 2.
ACBN Thanks the Council on Nutrition ……………………………….Page 2.
NYCC Masters in Nutrition program ………………………………….Page 3.
Miller School of Medicine ……………………………………………..Page 3.
Online Practice Examination ………………………………………….Page 3.
The Value of Accreditation
Professionals are frequently offered courses, seminars, programs and even “new” organizations in nutrition that claim to “certify” the doctor in nutrition. This can be a confusing dilemma to decide what course of action to take. Should I be “certified” by this group or that group? Each faction costs time and money, but what are you actually getting for your efforts? The ACBN has received a number of requests from professionals in the field about the issue of “certification”. The real program that separates the “wheat from the chaff” is accreditation. Is the certifying agency accredited? If the group claims to have accreditation status, who is the accreditation entity giving them this status? The last question should be who recognizes the accreditation agency?
Anyone can create a “certification”; provide a weekend seminar or have you fill out a number of forms, pay a fee and you are “certified”. The “certification” is only a piece of paper and all too often is of no value. The real question we need to ask is “who are you accountable to?” If the “certification” is made by and for a few people and they are not accountable to a higher authority, then you really need to give critical thought to its implications.
The ACBN understood this issue years ago. It is not enough to be “recognized” by a few people. It is not enough or even appropriate to be “recognized” by your own organization. The ACBN worked to become accredited and be held accountable to a higher authority than itself. The ACBN attained the status of accreditation from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). NCCA is recognized and accountable to the Unites States Department of Health and Human Services. This is the ultimate hierarchy of recognition.
The ACBN is certified and therefore accountable to an “outside” agency; NCCA. What that means is the accreditation agency (NCCA) has no affiliation, connection or interest in anything to do with nutrition, or chiropractic, or medicine, etc. This is a significant issue. Your ACBN has testified before regulatory boards in opposition to dietitians trying to legislate themselves as the only authority in nutrition. Each time, we explain to legislators that dietitians are accredited by themselves; they are self accredited and have no accountability to any higher authority. This lack of accountability to a hierarchy of “outside” authorities has been successful in defeating their goal of sole domination over nutrition.
We have been asked about accreditation from the Council on Chiropractic Education, or CCE. The government separates the educational component from the trade side of business. Schools that provide a degree are accredited through agencies recognized through the U.S. Department of Education while trade organization’s accreditation agencies are recognized through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CCE functions to certify schools: the educational component of education. Therefore, not only would be seeking CCE accreditation be inappropriate, but incorrect. This concept is carried through in meeting the standards for NCCA accreditation: that the certifying agency (ACBN) cannot have any association or influence with education.
Even if the ACBN considered CCE, the accreditation status would be considered “in house”. In other words, those in chiropractic are recognizing themselves. This is the same failed logic the dietitians have. Recognizing yourself does not sit well with legislators and regulatory boards.
The value of accreditation is that the ACBN is held to a higher standard and is accountable to an authority outside the scope of the certification, profession or interest. The value of accreditation separates self interest groups offering “certification” without accountability from government recognized, professionally recognized, and legislatively recognized organization whose true mission should be to maintain standards that protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public.
Our educational degree demonstrates our qualifications. The certification (Diplomate, American Clinical Board of Nutrition) helps to define what we do with our degree.
This is your ACBN. If you are approached, or are interested in a group or organization offering certification in nutrition, ask them who they are accredited by. If they are accredited, ask who recognizes the accreditation agency. You will be amazed how few true accredited “certification” agencies there really are in nutrition.
ACBN Goes Hi–Tech
Your ACBN now provides its board members unlimited teleconferencing via the internet. In the past, having all board members participate in a conference call for an hour or so would cost upwards of a $1,000. Now the ACBN uses internet technology to save money, by teleconferencing. The encrypted and secure calls are monitored by an administrator who has complete control over who is “online”, and the best part is the cost is only a few pennies. Now your board can have more frequent conferences in order to keep up with the corporate and examination needs.
Application for Grants
The ACBN has taken the initial steps of applying for funding grants to provide your certifying agency the resources to effectively market the ACBN to all professional schools, doctors in the field, legislators and regulatory boards. The process takes some time and we are optimistic of securing funding to expand the mission of the ACBN.
ACBN Thanks the Council on Nutrition
Before too much time passes by, the ACBN wishes to thank the leadership of the Council on Nutrition for their symposium held in San Francisco this past April. The location, hotel, food, and the speakers were excellent.
The ACBN congratulates the election of Dr. Elicia Rosen-Fox as President, Dr. Trudy Moon-Eisel to Vice President, Dr. Donald Feeney to Secretary and Dr. Kirk Whitten to executive Director.
As the president of the ACBN, I want to personally thank all of you for attending the short Presidents Report on Friday afternoon, April 11, 2008. The participation and dialogue we shared was inspiring. It is gratifying hear so much support and optimism for what your board has accomplished and what we goals we have set for our organization. As president, I continue to welcome direct phone calls to my office. Between the Board and Bonnie, the organization is run very smoothly. We do want your input. Please feel free to call.
Next year some members of the executive board and some members of the examining committee will finish their first 3 years of service. The combined executive and examining board will either appoint or reappoint those who are allowed a second – 3 year term of office. We will likely hold elections for new examining committee members from our pool of certificants. If you have interest in being elected to a position on the examining committee, we will start the election process in January. We are looking for doctors are willing to work!
NYCC Masters in Nutrition Program
New York Chiropractic College has two graduating classes for their Masters in Nutrition this year; one in August and the other in October. The 540 hour Masters program has approximately 25 to 30 doctors in each of the classes with the majority having a MD degree. Other doctors are DCs and other professionals. The ACBN hopes to provide the certifying examination in nutrition to all of these doctors either late this year or early next year.
Miller School of Medicine
The Miller School of Medicine will be graduating their first class of doctors who will be board eligible to sit for the ACBN examination in January, 2009. Additionally there are a significant number of others who will be taking the certificate of competency at the same time. All together, there is a population of over 150 examinees to be tested early next year. A second class from the Miller School of Medicine, consisting of 150 students, will be board eligible either in the late spring or summer.
On Line Practice examination
As reported in the last DACBN Report, your ACBN has completed an internet practice examination for all examinees who wish to get an idea of what the questions are like for part II of the ACBN examination.
The ACBN has partnered with Palmer College of Chiropractic to offer this practice examination. Part II of the ACBN is the 150 multiple choice written examination. All t he questions have been researched with answers that have been collaborated with two independent sources. The questions represent the logistical percentage of subject matter as defined in the delineation studies broken down into topics and subject areas.
The online test site is made up of two units. Unit one explains the ACBN practice exam and allows the examinee to take the test. The fee for taking the test, along with access to other parts of the online test site is $125, payable to the ACBN.
Unit II of the online test site provides the potential candidate an expose of the ACBN along with links to the ACBN website. This unit lists textbooks for review and provides a list of documents to share by placing them on “favorites” or downloading them directly from the website.
Unit II of the online test site provides a webliography; references to useful nutritional websites for both the professional as well as consumers. This is an interactive area.
If you know of a potential examinee who would like to take a practice examination, please direct them to the ACBN website where this is explained in greater detail.
The DACBN Report is the official newsletter of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition. It is published approximately once every quarter.
Send all correspondence to:
Ms. Bonnie Sealock
6855 Browntown Road
Front Royal, VA 22630
Phone: 540 635-8844
Fax: 540 635-3669
Visit us on the internet at
www.acbn.org.