Asthma Educator Specialist (AE-C)

The Asthma Educator Specialty Examination is designed to measure comprehensive, current knowledge of asthma pathophysiology and management including developmental theories, cultural dimensions, the impact of chronic illness, and principles of teaching-learning. Therefore, wearing the Asthma Educator Specialist (AE-C) badge of distinction signals to employers, colleagues and patients that your skills are highly specialized.

The AE-C Examination is a multidisciplinary program available for currently licensed or credentialed professionals (shown below) who have proven their dedication to excellence by earning the AE-C credential.

  1. Be issued a current, active, unrestricted license or credential from the United States in one of the following:
    Physician (MD, DO)
    Physician Assistant (PA-C)
    Nurse (RN, LPN, NP)
    Respiratory Therapist (RRT, CRT)
    Pulmonary Function Technologist (RPFT, CPFT)
    Pharmacist (RPh)
    Social Worker (CSW)
    Health Educator (CHES)
    Physical Therapist (PT)
    Occupational Therapist (OT)
    Emergency Medical Technician (EMT, AEMT)
    Paramedic
    Speech Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP)

    OR

  2. Have a minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient asthma education, counseling or coordinating services prior to applying for the examination.

For more information, click or tap on a topic below.

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AE-C Digital Credential
SCORINGADMISSION REQUIREMENTSFree Practice ExamSELF-ASSESSMENTGeneral Exam InfoExam FAQSVOUCHERS
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Scoring

The AE-C Examination contains 175 multiple-choice items (150 scored and 25 pretest). You will be given 3.5 hours to complete the AE-C Examination. For specific exam content, refer to the Detailed Content Outline.

AE-C Detailed Content Outline – Effective September 2018

Admission Requirements

Individuals may be admitted to the examination based on either of the two following qualifications:

1. Be issued a current, active, unrestricted license or credential from the United States in one of the following:

  • Physicians (MD, DO)
  • Physician Assistants (PA-C)
  • Nurses (RN, LPN, NP)
  • Respiratory Therapists (RRT, CRT)
  • Pulmonary Function Technologists (RPFT, CPFT)
  • Pharmacists (RPh)
  • Social Workers (CSW)
  • Health Educators (CHES)
  • Physical Therapist (PT)
  • Occupational Therapist (OT)
  • Emergency Medical Technician (EMT, AEMT)
  • Paramedic

OR

2. Have a minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient asthma education, counseling or coordinating services prior to applying for the examination.

Free Practice Exam

A free AE-C practice examination is available so you may familiarize yourself with the content and types of questions that will be included on the credentialing exam.

ATTENTION – By accessing this examination, you agree not to reproduce, distribute, disclose, offer for sale, or sell any portion of these copyrighted National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. materials in any format. Failure to comply with these terms may result in disciplinary action by the National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. including loss of your credential, losing your ability to retake an examination, and/or legal action related to copyright infringement.

Go to Free Practice Exam

Self-Assessment

Anyone planning to take the AE-C Examination can assess how they will perform before actually attempting the examination by taking the official NBRC Self-Assessment Examination (SAE). The feedback from the SAE provides an opportunity to evaluate and remedy less-than-desirable examination performance before taking the credentialing examination. The official SAEs are the only products that provide the respective examination committees’ rationale for the best response to each question.

Official SAEs are only available in web-based format for purchase online through the NBRC’s testing agency, PSI. PSI’s e-store offers all currently available NBRC web-based SAEs for purchase online.

To take an online SAE, you must have:

• A compatible internet browser such as the current version of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Other browsers may not work.
• Cookies and scripting must be enabled.
• Pop-up blocking must be disabled.

After your order is placed, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with specific instructions guiding you through the examination process. The e-mail contains your private password that allows you to receive individualized feedback on your performance. You will have 90 days from the time you receive your confirmation e-mail to complete the examination.

Please note: If you purchase an NBRC SAE, your credit card statement will reflect a purchase from LXR.

ATTENTION – By accessing this examination, you agree not to reproduce, distribute, disclose, offer for sale, or sell any portion of these copyrighted National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. materials in any format. Failure to comply with these terms may result in disciplinary action by the National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. including loss of your credential, losing your ability to retake an examination, and/or legal action related to copyright infringement.

Go to Self-Assessment Examinations

General Exam Info: Tools for Candidates

These additional tools are available at no cost to help you prepare for the examination:

AE-C Exam FAQs

To qualify for the Asthma Educator Specialty Examination, you must meet one of the following requirements:
Be issued a current, active, unrestricted license or credential from the United States in one of the following:

  • Physicians (MD, DO)
  • Physician Assistants (PA-C)
  • Nurses (RN, LPN, NP)
  • Respiratory Therapists (RRT, CRT)
  • Pulmonary Function Technologists (RPFT, CPFT)
  • Pharmacists (RPh)
  • Social Workers (CSW)
  • Health Educators (CHES)
  • Physical Therapists (PT)
  • Occupational Therapists (OT)
  • Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT, AEMT)
  • Paramedics
  • Speech Language Pathologists (CCC-SLP)

OR

Have a minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient asthma education, counseling or coordinating services prior to applying for the examination. If applying under this admission route, you must submit a paper application form and payment to the NBRC office for processing. If you do not have an active US license or credential, you must apply under this eligibility route.

You may apply online or submit a paper application and fee once you have met the admission requirements.

If applying and paying by credit card online, your application is processed immediately. If mailing your application and fee, your application will be processed within approximately five to seven business days. An email confirmation notice of eligibility will be sent to you, which includes a website and toll-free telephone number for you to contact to schedule an examination appointment.

If your eligibility cannot be confirmed, you will be notified by email of the additional information required to complete your application.

The AE-C Examination costs $350 for new applicants and $250 for reapplicants.

Yes, AARC MEMBERS are eligible for a one-time, $40 discount when applying for the first time for the following NBRC examinations:

– CSE
– PFT
– NPS
– SDS
– ACCS
– AE-C discount will be available soon

You must register for the AARC Member Discount through the AARC website at https://www.aarc.org/membership/get-a-discount-on-nbrc-exam/. AARC will send an email after registering for the discount containing instructions about accessing the NBRC’s online examination application. You must begin the application process from the link in the instructions you receive from the AARC by email. The discount must be used at the time you submit your application and payment and will not be retroactively applied.

There are no application deadlines. If you meet the admissions requirements for an examination you may submit your application and fee at any time.

If you don’t receive an email confirmation of eligibility or an incomplete notice within two weeks of submitting your application, contact the NBRC. If your application is not on file, you will be asked to send a replacement application form and fee.

NBRC examinations are administered Monday through Saturday at more than 300 assessment centers across the country (except on nationally recognized holidays). Search for an assessment center near you.

Yes. If you are approved to take an examination and paid the appropriate fee, you may schedule online.

A free AE-C practice examination is available so you may familiarize yourself with the content and types of questions that will be included on the credentialing exam.

ATTENTION – By accessing this examination, you agree not to reproduce, distribute, disclose, offer for sale, or sell any portion of these copyrighted National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. materials in any format. Failure to comply with these terms may result in disciplinary action by the National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. including loss of your credential, losing your ability to retake an examination, and/or legal action related to copyright infringement.

If you are assessing your preparedness for the AE-C Examination and feel you need more guidance than the free practice exam, there is a Self-Assessment Examination (SAE) available for purchase. The AE-C SAE is a 75-item multiple-choice practice examination.

ATTENTION – By accessing this examination, you agree not to reproduce, distribute, disclose, offer for sale, or sell any portion of these copyrighted National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. materials in any format. Failure to comply with these terms may result in disciplinary action by the National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc. including loss of your credential, losing your ability to retake an examination, and/or legal action related to copyright infringement.

The testing time for the AE-C Examination is three and one-half hours.

To begin your preparation in an informed and organized manner, you should know what to expect from the actual examination in terms of content areas tested. The detailed content outlines present the specific patient care settings and each of the content areas.  The outlines can be used to get a general impression of the examination, and with closer inspection, can give you specific study direction. For example, you can determine the relative importance of each content area on the examination by reviewing the number of questions in each section.

AE-C Detailed Content Outline – Effective September 2018

After you have completed the examination, your score report will be sent by email to the address on file with PSI. If you don’t receive your score report within 24 hours, contact PSI at 833.256.1424, or examschedule@psionline.com.

As indicated in the table below, candidates may attempt the Therapist Multiple-Choice and Clinical Simulation Examinations three times, after which the candidate will be required to wait a minimum of 120 days between any subsequent attempt. For the specialty credentialing examinations, including Pulmonary Function Technology, Neonatal/Pediatric Specialty, Sleep Disorders Specialty, Adult Critical Care Specialty, and Asthma Educator Specialty Examinations, candidates may attempt the exam two times, after which the candidate will be required to wait at least 180 days before sitting for the exam again.

Examination

Initial Attempts Without Waiting

Days Between Each Subsequent Attempt

Therapist Multiple-Choice

3

120

Clinical Simulation

3

120

Pulmonary Function Technology

2

180

Neonatal/Pediatric Specialty

2

180

Sleep Disorders Specialty

2

180

Adult Critical Care Specialty

2

180

Asthma Educator Specialty

2

180

As the respiratory profession continues to grow and flourish, we feel this is an important and necessary policy to implement in order to ensure caregiver competency and patient safety for years to come.

When you apply for an examination, your eligibility records are maintained for one year following application regardless of whether or not you schedule an exam. If you don’t actively pursue credentialing, your eligibility records are inactivated after one year. If you are a candidate whose records are inactivated, you must reapply as a new candidate and meet the most current admissions requirements to be eligible for the exam. Please note: if you have passed one of the examinations to earn the RRT Credential (TMC or CSE) and allow your application records to become inactivated, your passing performance will be nullified, so we encourage you to pursue credentialing in a timely manner after applying and receiving a confirmation of eligibility notice.

To support you through the entire process, we are committed to providing appropriate notices to candidates before their application records are inactivated, so we also encourage you to keep your contact information current with the NBRC.

A job analysis study is conducted to ensure the examination content would be job-related and based on tasks performed by practitioners in this specialty area. To rate the importance of job tasks, several thousand surveys are sent to individuals who are involved in the delivery of care to patients in asthma educator settings.

This specialty examination is unique to the daily tasks you’ll perform as an asthma educator care specialist. It goes above and beyond general activities, so you can demonstrate your acquired skill level in this expanding specialty of respiratory care.

Purchase a Voucher

If you are an employer or educator who plans to cover the cost of the NBRC credentialing examinations for candidates, an online prepay option is available for your convenience. Simply follow the link below to purchase a prepaid voucher. Once your payment is made, you will receive an email with voucher codes to distribute to candidates to use as payment when applying for the exam.

Purchase a Payment Voucher Now