There are 7 parts to getting though a course, and getting a certificate with continuing education credit. Courses with Professional Development Activity Credits granted by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) require a special worksheet to be filled out while studying the course material. This worksheet is essay style questions, and is not graded but must be submitted and stored by the PDA provider (MAS) in order to receive a PDA certificate.

1. Obtaining the course content: MAS courses range from audio only downloads, Audio CD sets, videos with slides and audio, and full video. The content for this course is a group of audio sound files that are downloaded from a shared link to the file storage service Dropbox as a separate step. If you want to access audio content off the internet and not logged into this course, you will need a dropbox account and a computer with enough disk space to store all the files and access to the internet. After you purchase the course, the link to the audio files will be available in a lesson and you will be able to listen to them without a drop box account. 
2. Downloading the NCCAOM worksheet: Before listening to the content you will download a worksheet where you will take notes based on a few questions as you go through the course.
3. Handouts, slides, and track lists: Depending on the course the instructor will have provided extra materials which you can download.
4. Study the course content: Depending on the media used, you can study the course content inside the MAS course, or listen to it elsewhere such as using an audio CD player in a car, or watching a video on a vimeo app on a tablet.
5. Upload the worksheet: When you have completed the coursework, this system will allow you to upload your filled out worksheet. MAS will approve the worksheet assignment.
6. Take the exam: Once the worksheet assignment is approved, you are cleared to take the exam within the course learning system.
7. When the exam is passed, MAS will generate the certificate using NCCAOM’s certificate system and make it available to you on the MAS website, after you log into your account, for you to download.