Apply for the Sexual Assault Nurse Training Certification Program

The Massachusetts Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program provides 24/7 emergency forensic nursing services across the Commonwealth. The Program is seeking applications from a diverse group of committed individuals looking to provide compassionate care for sexual assault patients.

About the training

The MA SANE Certification Training is a 48-hour program held over the course of 6 weeks, culminating in both a written and practical certification exam as well as a precepting experience. This certification training serves as the basis for eligibility to contract (as an individual entity) with DPH to provide care as a MA SANE.

The didactic content for the MA SANE Certification Training will be provided primarily in an on-line format which will include recorded, self-paced sessions as well as scheduled, live, interactive webinars.

• The live webinars are approximately four hours in length and conducted twice a week during the training period.
• The three in-person clinical days are held at the interprofessional Center for Experiential Learning and Simulation (iCELS) at UMASS Chan Medical School in Worcester.

Upon acceptance to the MA SANE Certification Training, you will be expected to attend all live training sessions (a mix of virtual and in-person) and complete all require pre-work prior to each session. You must be able to commit designated time to the training sessions, pre-work, study/review, and examination. Candidates who miss a live session of the training will not be able to complete certification.

We are currently accepting applications for our Fall 2026 Certification Training. To be considered for this session, applications must be received by July 20, 2026. Applications received after July 20, 2026 will be given consideration for the next session.

The dates for the Fall 2026 training are:

Virtual live training dates 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 

• Thursday, August 27, 2026
• Tuesday, September 1, 2026
• Tuesday, September 22, 2026
• Tuesday, October 6, 2026 (Virtual Written Exam Day)

In-person clinical days are held at UMass Chan Medical School

1. All students will attend a full day (8:30AM-3:30) PM on Thursday September 10^th
2. All students will attend a full day (9:00AM – 3:30PM) on either Friday, September 11th OR Monday, September 14th.  Students will be assigned to one of these dates. 
3. All students must attend and successfully complete a Practical Exam on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.  Students will be assigned a time period (either 8:00AM– 12:00PM or 12:30PM– 4:30PM).

There will be segments of time during the training period where we will not be meeting virtually or in-person but you will be expected to complete multiple hours of independent work (in some cases up to 10-12 hours)

Qualifications and eligibility requirements

To be eligible to apply for the MA SANE Certification Training, you must be either a Registered Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, or Physician in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a minimum of three (3) full years of clinical experience. A working background or knowledge of violence against women, sexual assault, and domestic violence issues is preferable. The Program is seeking SANE contractors, who actively examine their explicit and implicit biases to provide equitable, trauma-informed SANE care for all patients, and who actively address instances of racism perpetrated by others during patient encounters. The Program is committed to providing and supporting educational opportunities to support this life-long learning process. Clinicians with diverse backgrounds and experiences, both personal and professional, are encouraged to apply.

By completing the SANE Certification Training, you become eligible to contract with the Commonwealth as an Independent Contractor. This is not an employed position with DPH.

All eligibility requirements must be met (without exception) including:

• Current independent, individual professional liability insurance policy with minimums of $1 million per claim and $3 million minimum aggregate. Hospital-based, principal named, or self-insured hospital insurance policies are not acceptable.
• Current Immunizations*:
  • Annual Influenza (2025-2026)
  • Annual COVID-19 (2025-2026)
  • MMR
  • Varicella
  • Hepatitis B
  • Tdap (Initial Vaccination, plus most recent booster, which must be <10 years)
  • Record of negative Tuberculin Skin Test (TST), or Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA, such as QuantiFERON-TB Gold, or T-SPOT.TB test) within 2 years , OR negative chest X-ray (if history of positive TB test)

These contracting eligibility requirements will be verified during the contracting process (if you are accepted into the MA SANE Certification Training Program).

*The MDPH reserves the right to update, change, or add to the list of required immunizations at any time during the contract period.

The MA SANE role

Upon successful completion of the MA SANE Certification Training, Certified MA SANEs are eligible to apply under the Commonwealth’s RFR 231332 “Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners” to work as a contracted SANE in one of the program’s 6 geographical regions.

Contracted MA SANEs are expected to be available on-call for approximately 30 hours per month (may be more or less, depending on the needs of the Region in which they provide services, and at the discretion of the SANE Program Regional Coordinator and/or Associate Director).