Donor Identification & Referral - Study Guide- (2026 Edition)

Build confidence in one of the most consequential parts of the organ-donation process: evaluating the potential donor, understanding the pathway to death determination, establishing authorization, and protecting both family trust and recipient safety.

This integrated CPTC study guide turns donor evaluation and authorization into a clear clinical sequence—understand the patient, preserve appropriate donation options, determine how death will be established, identify who has legal authority to make decisions, and communicate effectively with families during an extraordinarily difficult time. Complex clinical, legal, ethical, and regulatory concepts are organized into practical decision frameworks, comparison tables, exam alerts, checklists, and case-based examples.

What You’ll Learn

• Building the complete clinical picture during donor evaluation

• Medical history, hospital course, and donor-risk assessment

• Evaluating organ-donation suitability while preserving potential options

• Neurologic assessment and pathways to death determination

• Brain death/death by neurologic criteria (BD/DNC) prerequisites and confounders

• Donation after brain death (DBD) versus donation after circulatory death (DCD)

• Separating decisions about withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from donation

• First-person authorization and legally valid anatomical gifts

• Surrogate decision-making and authorization hierarchy

• Establishing who has legal authority to make donation decisions

• Family communication and maintaining trust throughout the authorization process

• Donor-risk information and recipient-safety considerations

• Key federal requirements, OPTN policy concepts, and Uniform Anatomical Gift Act principles

• CPTC-focused distinctions between clinical practice, policy requirements, and exam concepts

Included

• Integrated Donor Evaluation and Authorization study guide

• High-yield comparison tables and decision sequences

• Clinical and legal decision callouts

• CPTC-focused exam alerts and key takeaways

• Practical checklists for donor evaluation and authorization

• Case-based examples that connect policy concepts to real-world donation practice

• Referenced national policy, regulatory, legal, and clinical sources

• Digital format for convenient study and review

Designed for CPTC candidates, organ procurement coordinators, donation professionals, and clinicians who need a practical framework for navigating donor evaluation and authorization from the initial clinical picture through a legally and ethically sound donation decision.

2026 Edition: Aligned with CPTC test specifications effective July 1, 2026, with policy and source review completed August 22, 2026.

Independent exam-preparation material. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ABTC, OPTN, HRSA, CMS, or any other regulatory or certification organization. Operational decisions must follow current OPO, hospital, state, and federal requirements.