Bylaws for the intensive care board certificate system

Chapter 1. Implementation and operation of the intensive care board certificate system

Article 1. The intensive care board certificate system committee (system committee) will manage the rules of the intensive care board certificate system and the implementation details, and address problems arising from its operation.

Article 2. The intensive care board certificate screening committee (screening committee) will be in charge of the certification and renewal of the certificate of intensive care specialists and training facilities for intensive care specialists.

Chapter 2. Conditions for application for the intensive care board certificate

Article 3. A person who wants to acquire an intensive care board certificate shall satisfy the provisions in Article 7 of the rules and one of the following conditions:

• 1. Person who has been involved in a training facility for intensive care specialists certified by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine for over five years.
• 2. Person who is a certified specialist (or certified physician) specified in Table 1-1, and has worked for a training facility for intensive care specialists certified by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine for over two years in total.
• 3. Person who is a certified specialist (or certified physician) specified in Table 1-2, and has worked for a training facility for intensive care specialists certified by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine for over three years in total.

Chapter 3. Screening for the intensive care board certificate

Article 4. Screening for the intensive care board certificate shall include an examination of documents and paper tests.

Article 5. The screening committee shall be in charge of the examination of documents and paper tests.

Chapter 4. Application documents for the intensive care board certificate

Article 6. Those who want to apply for the intensive care board certificate shall submit the following documents to the screening committee.

• 1. Application form for the intensive care board certificate
• 2. List of achievements
• 3. Certificate for payment of the membership fee of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine for five years
• 4. A copy of the specialist certificate designated by the society in the case of Article 3-2 of the bylaws.
• 5. A copy of the specialist certificate designated by the society in the case of Article 3-3 of the bylaws.

Chapter 5. List of achievements

Article 7. Those who want to apply for the intensive care board certificate shall describe their achievements over the last five years, which should meet all of the following conditions, in the achievement field of the application form:

• 1. The subject of academic papers shall be intensive care. The applicant shall be the first author of at least one paper (original paper, review, or care report) of three or more papers in total. Of all papers to be stated in the achievement field, offprints of the main three papers should be attached.
• 2. The subject of the presentation at academic conferences shall be intensive care. The applicant shall be the leading presenter of at least three presentations, including at least one presentation made at an academic conference of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine. An abstract shall be used as proof of presentation at an academic conference.
• 3. Achievements regarding participation in academic conferences should include at least two attendances to each of academic conferences of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and its local branches. An attendance certificate shall be used as a proof of participation in an academic conference.

Chapter 6. Certificate of work experience at training facilities for intensive care specialists

Article 8. Those who want to apply for the intensive care board certificate shall obtain certificates of work experience at training facilities for intensive care specialists from hospital directors and persons in charge of intensive care at each facility.

Chapter 7. Conditions for board certified training facilities for intensive care specialists

Article 9. Board certified training facilities for intensive care specialists, as defined in Article 16 of the rules, shall:

• 1. Serve as a central department of the institute.
• 2. Have at least one full-time intensive care specialist certified by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine
• 3. Have four or more beds
• 4. Satisfy the facility standards of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and have CT and blood purification equipment in the facility.

Chapter 8. Renewal of the intensive care board certificate

Article 10. Those who want to renew their intensive care board certificate shall submit the following application documents to the screening committee:

• 1. Application for intensive care board certificate renewal
• 2. Proof of the payment of membership fees to the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine for the past five years
• 3. List of achievements

The renewal of membership shall require a total of 40 or more credits in the achievement list as stipulated in Appendix 2 “Allocation of Credits”: 20 or more credits for attending academic conferences, and another 20 or more credits for making presentations on intensive care at academic conferences or publishing papers.

• 1) Attendance at academic conferences
  Achievements for participation in academic conferences should include attending both the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and its local branch conferences. An attendance certificate shall be used as proof of participation in an academic conference.
• 2) Achievements for presentations should include at least one at an academic conference of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine (joint presentation allowed). An abstract shall be used as proof of presentation at an academic conference. Separate prints should be added to academic papers (joint papers allowed).

Chapter 9. Direct review of application details

Article 11. The screening committee may request explanations directly from applicants about details of application documents submitted as needed.

Chapter 10. Evaluation of achievements for certificate renewal

Article 12. Applicants may describe their achievements over the past one year, dating back from the date of certification, on the application form for the renewal of intensive care board certificate and board certificate of training facility for intensive care specialists.

Chapter 11. Certification and renewal of the certificate of board certified training facilities for intensive care specialists

Article 13. Facilities that apply for the certificate or renewal of the certificate of board certified training facilities shall submit the following application documents to the screening committee:

• 1. Application form for the certificate or renewal of the certificate of board certified training facilities
• 2. A copy of the certificate of intensive care specialist issued by an intensive care specialist in charge of the institute
• 3. A copy of the certificate issued by the governor, which allows the adding of special points for intensive care
• 4. Layout of the intensive care facility, and lists of equipment, facilities, and medical devices
• 5. Composition of physicians and nurses, and work schedule
• 6. Roster of ICU staff including intensive care specialists on call
• 7. List of the number of cases over the past year and treatment overviews of 30 severe cases

Article 14. Following a review of application documents and onsite review, the screening committee will determine the suitability of the facility as a board certified training facility for intensive care specialists, based on the results of these reviews.

Chapter 12. Application for the intensive care board certificate and training facility board certificate and review fees

Article 15. Applicants shall submit application documents by the date specified by the screening committee each year.

Article 16. Application will require review fees:

The fee for document review regarding intensive care board certification - 10,000 yen
The fee for tests regarding intensive care board certification - 30,000 yen
The fee for intensive care board certificate renewal - 20,000 yen
The fee for certification as a board certified training facility for intensive care specialists - 10,000 yen
The fee for training facility board certificate renewal - 10,000 yen

Article 17. Review fees will not be refunded under any circumstances.

Chapter 13. Registration fee

Article 18. Those who receive an intensive care board certificate shall pay 30,000 as a registration fee.

Article 19. Registration fees will not be refunded under any circumstances.

Chapter 14. Exemption

Article 20. The screening committee, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 11 of the rules, may extend the effective term of the intensive care board certificate to some extent in the case of illness of applicants or other unavoidable reasons.

Article 21. The screening committee shall exempt applicants aged 65 years or older from examination for intensive care board certificate renewal.

Article 22. The screening committee may examine those who have been engaged in intensive care in a foreign country and have a similar level of clinical experience to those stipulated in Article 3 of the bylaws only if a certificate of such intensive care work is submitted. The committee will approve the proven period as clinical experience for the applicant.

Chapter 15. Supplementary rule I

Article 23. Table 1 shows certification titles issued by academic societies designated by the society as mentioned in Articles 3 and 6 of the bylaws and training periods required for application.

Chapter 16. Supplementary rule II

Article 24. Credits regarding achievements mentioned in Article 10-3 of the bylaws will be determined based on the point allocation method in Table 2.

Chapter 17. Supplementary rule III

Article 25. These bylaws may be modified with system committee and board meeting approval.

Additional Clause:
These bylaws will be enacted on April 1, 1995.
This revision will take effect on March 5, 2004.
This revision will take effect from the date of the establishment of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine.