A. No, you should not commence to bill for your professional -or should your employer- anesthesia services until you have taken and passed your certification examination. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) requires all participating providers to be properly certified and licensed within their specialty prior to granting a participating status. Therefore, often times new graduates will have the date of their certification examination as their effective date of participation. The only exception here would be with the Federal Medicare Program. In some states depending upon state by state laws, Medicare will setup your Medicare participation date prior to your certification examination date. A qualified anesthetist is one that is prepared and ready to sit for, or has completed the proper accreditation examination.