NRCME Glossary

  • Accreditation: Attestation at regular intervals to an institution’s compliance with approved standards of efficiency and effectiveness, judged by uninvolved peers.

  • Certification: 3 types

    • First party: Formal recognition by an established group of professional peers of an individual in a profession or professional field (self-certification.

    • Second party: Formal recognition by a customer of an individual’s qualifications.

    • Third party: Formal recognition by an independent body of professional peers of an individual’s qualifications in a profession or a professional organization.

  • Licensure: Permission granted by an agency of government to an individual to engage in a given profession or occupation, once an applicant has met qualifications standards.

  • Medical Examiner: A person who is licensed, certified, and/or registered, in accordance with applicable State laws and regulations, to perform physical examinations. The term includes doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathy, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and doctors of chiropractic.

  • Medical Review Board: A board of expert health care professionals appointed by the Secretary of Transportation to provide expert advice to FMCSA on medical issues related to health and physical examinations for certification of commercial motor vehicle drivers and training, standards and guidelines for medical examiners.

  • National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners: A program designed to produce trained, certified medical examiners that fully understand the medical standards in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Regulations and how they relate to the mental and physical demands of driving a commercial motor vehicle.

  • Participants: Those who take part in or become involved in the NRCME, i.e., medical associations or organizations, etc.

  • Participants Conference: A meeting to promote participation of private sector organizations with expertise in medical training and experience in a regulatory setting.

  • Program Introduction Conference: A one-day meeting to introduce the NRCME to potential participant organizations and stakeholders, focusing on how it will contribute to highway safety, and to enlist participation of private sector organizations in the development and implementation of the NRCME.

  • Quality Management/Assurance: 3 basic characteristics

    • Compliance with approved standards of performance, ascertained by peer review.

    • Continuous quality improvement of involved organizations through improved planning, and efficient and effective delivery of professional activities.

    • Ongoing assessment of quality professional performance.

  • Registration: Voluntary listing of individuals who call themselves a particular type of professional without regard to or endorsement of their qualifications.

  • Role Delineation Study: An assessment of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for an individual to perform competently. It also establishes the tasks professionals should perform to ensure that the outcomes of their decisions will not present a danger to the public. This type of study is also referred to as a task analysis, or sometimes as a job analysis.

  • Stakeholder: An individual or group with an interest in the success of the NRCME program in delivering intended results and maintaining the viability of the Registry’s products and services.

  • Working Integrated Product Team (WIPT) : A working group composed of members and alternates who represent each of the primary professions performing commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver physical examinations: doctors of medicine (MD) and osteopathy (DO), advanced practice nurses (APN), physician assistants (PA) and chiropractors(DC). These groups meet on an ongoing basis to assist FMCSA with the development and maintenance of the training and certification components of the NRCME.