MRSE Certificate of Competence launched

A NEW era in Magnetic Resonance Safety Expert certification in the UK is about to begin thanks to IPEM.

Applications will be accepted for the IPEM Magnetic Resonance Safety Expert (MRSE) Certificate of Competence from Wednesday 1 September.

The certification model IPEM has adopted requires both knowledge and experience. Successful applicants will need to demonstrate knowledge by successfully completing the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS) MRSE exam. The MR experience of an applicant will be assessed from a structured portfolio demonstrating a broad range of MRSE activities.

Successful applicants will be issued with a certificate and their names will be published in IPEM communications.

The initial application fee will be £75 and the Certificate of Competence will be valid for five years.

IPEM’s Professional and Standards Council in January 2020 approved a MRSE proposal from an IPEM task and finish group on the subject, which supported the knowledge and experience route to certification. This included the requirement to undertake the ABMRS MRSE exam as the process by which sufficient MRSE knowledge can be demonstrated.

IPEM has been represented on the ABMRS board of directors since 2015 and has contributed towards the development of ABMRS exam questions and standard setting. A Memorandum of Understanding between IPEM and the ABMRS was signed in September 2020 by Professor Stephen O’Connor, IPEM’s President, and Dr Heidi Edmonson, Chair of the Board of Directors of ABMRS, which has helped to pave the way for the UK certification.

Professor O’Connor said: ‘The Magnetic Resonance Safety Expert Certificate of Competence has been many years in the making. A dedicated working party has taken the project to completion and many thanks to them for all their hard work.'