The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT®), the national certification body for
occupational therapy professionals in the United States, embarked upon a novel project to employ a virtual
continuing competency platform. The genesis for the innovative virtual product was the result of a practice analysis
study - the goal of which was to gain evidence-based direction for individualized programs of continuing
professional development. The study identified six key areas for focus: providing client-centered care, working in
interprofessional teams, employing evidence-based practice, applying quality improvement, utilizing informatics,
and promoting professional responsibility. The virtual platform targets certificants’ needs related to maintaining
knowledge for current practice as well as supporting career enhancement and growth. With neither an existing
platform nor content to meet its needs, NBCOT took on the task of designing, developing, pilot testing, and
delivering the virtual platform and all of its supporting content from initial concept through deployment. The live
system includes a web-based assessment delivery engine, certificant dashboard, and interfaces that support selfreflective
assessments, multiple-choice practice knowledge assessments called mini practice quizzes, animated case
simulations, and games as educational experiences. Prior to the full implementation of the new virtual continuing
competency platform, a pilot test including 512 unique testers accessing 6,561 assessment tools was conducted. This
paper will introduce the program at a high level and discuss the design process to frame discussion and then share
the descriptive results of the user pilot study. While this specific program targets occupational therapy certificants,
the virtual platform, focus areas, and lessons learned regarding use of a large scale virtual assessment program apply
to other domains. The team will share generalized recommendations for future design and development of advanced
technology-enabled assessment, certification, and educational experiences based upon our findings.