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CONNECTING WITH THE BOARDS COMMUNITY |
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 Article-based Assessments Help Physicians Obtain Latest Evidence Quickly, Conveniently
How are physicians expected to keep current with medical knowledge when it is estimated that as many as 10,000 new studies are published each month?
Some American Board of Medical Specialties' Member Boards are helping B
oard Certified physicians by hand selecting journal articles for their relevance and timeliness, such as safe opioid prescribing or addressing the Zika virus. The certifying boards are then using these articles as part of their educational and assessment process to help physicians acquire the latest evidence to use in their clinical practice.
Learn how the
American Boards of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Ophthalmology, Emergency Medicine,
Allergy and Immunology
, and
Psychiatry and Neurology have incorporated article-based assessments into their continuing certification process, and the positive feedback they are receiving from Board Certified physicians.
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Physicians not only benefit from having key information filtered by their peers, saving them time from having to track it down themselves, but it is delivered to them via the latest technology, allowing them to access the information anytime, anywhere, and on many electronic devices. Moreover, physicians view the knowledge gained from article-based assessments as valuable and relevant to their practice.
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Commission Members for Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Initiative Named
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The Commission will be responsible for
assessing the status of
continuing Board Certification and making recommendations to help enable the process to become a system that demonstrates the profession's commitment to professional self-regulation, offers a consistent and clear understanding of what continuing certification means, is reflective of the current and future practice environment, and establishes a meaningful, relevant, and valuable program that meets the highest standard of quality patient care.
A total of 176 completed nominations from 42 states were submitted, representing a diverse group of stakeholder communities, including physicians from a wide variety of specialties and practice settings. Nominations for individuals from national specialty and state medical societies, hospitals and health systems, health care organizations, and the general public were received.
As part of its compehensive assessment of the current continuing certification system, the Commission will obtain feedback from various stakeholders through multiple methods beginning with a
survey
that is now open and available for comment.
Take this opportunity to frame the future continuing certification program by filling out the survey.
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Opportunities to Advance Continuing Certification
By Richard E. Hawkins, MD, ABMS President and Chief Executive Officer
As I navigate my first months at ABMS, I am struck by the number of opport
unities that ABMS and the Member Boards have to advance continuing certification.
To do that effectively, we need to lay a foundation based on the following
priorities: enhancing internal alignment, implementing a robust engagement plan, working with key partners who share our commitment to meaningful professional self-regulation, reimagining the value proposition for continuing certification, and tending to our core mission.
"We must re-affirm our shared vision and common sense of purpose in order to succeed in advancing certification and continuing certification."
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Addiction Medicine Subspecialty Poised to Treat Substance Use Disorders
By Timothy K. Brennan, MD, MPH, Vice President of Academic and Medical Affairs at the Addiction Medicine Foundation
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) welcomed Addiction Medicine as the newest subspecialty in October 2015. Entering the ABMS fold as a subspecialty sponsored by the American Board of Preventive Medicine, Addiction Medicine now has a seat at the table within the House of Medicine. With this seat comes new opportunities, expectations, and challenges. As an Addiction Medicine physician, I can tell you that my peers and I are up to the task - in fact, we have been for more than 60 years. Our colleagues and our nation are now appreciating the incredible toll addiction takes on our patients and communities as well as on public health and health care expenditures.
It is fitting that this field is multi-specialty because physicians from every specialty are needed to advance prevention and treat addiction. Because substance use disorders and addiction impact every American demographic, physicians of every specialty working in every health care setting are needed. In particular, pediatricians, obstetricians, and family physicians encounter this disease daily, even as it masquerades as other, secondary diagnoses. Physicians and the public now have access to a gold standard ABMS board credential, signifying that the medical profession is responding to addiction with the same vigor applied to other diseases.
"Recognition by ABMS brings credibility to the subspecialty. "
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ABMS Member Boards Address Opioid Crisis
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and its 24 Member Boards have joined the fight against the growing opioid crisis in the United States. Officially recognizing Addiction Medicine as a subspecialty in October 2015, the designation allows physicians certified by any of the 24 ABMS Member Boards to apply for the new certificate through the ABMS sponsoring Board - the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
"Substance use and addiction are serious health problems of enormous proportion and impact in this country and on our society," stated ABMS President and Chief Executive Officer Richard E. Hawkins, MD. "By offering certification in this important subspecialty, we continue in our role to assure patients and their families that their physicians meet the high standards of practice and clinical knowledge and have completed an approved educational program in this emerging medical field."
In addition to the establishment of Addiction Medicine as a subspecialty, Member Boards are
integrating accredited safe opioid education initiatives into
their Programs for Maintenance of Certification to further educate Board Certified physicians about opioid abuse, misuse, and responsible prescribing protocols.
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ABMS Launches Improved Directory
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) launched the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory™ (Directory) - the new and improved version of the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Directory - in January. It was developed to help Board Certified physicians find quality continuing medical education (CME) activities approved for MOC by one or more Member Boards.
The new Director
y's updated search and navigation capabilities greatly improves the user experien
ce for physicians as well as offers CME providers access to additional continuing certification information and resources.
During the past two years, the Directory has increased its inventory and now indexes 600-plus activitie
s, includ
ing
Opioid Prescriber Edu
cation Programs,
from more than
60 CME providers nationwide.
Activities in this online repository reflect the latest
best practices, evidence-based guidelines, and educational initiatives designed to support the development of high functioning physicians. Indexed MOC activities award credit from one or more of the following CME credit systems: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, AAFP Prescribed Credit, ACOG Cognates, and or AOA Category 1-A.
The
process
for CME providers to submit accredited CME activities for review by the participating Member Boards is quick and easy.
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ABMS Visiting Scholars Program Accepting Applications
The one-year
, pa
rt-time program
provides early career physicians and others with relevant advanced degrees with exposure to the fields of physician assessment and continuing professi
onal devel
opment; quality improvement; regulatory policy, assessment, and the performance improvement work of ABMS and its Member Boards; and health services research and scholarship in areas that improve patient care, quality, and physician performance.
In collaboration with mentors from their institution and liaisons from
A
B
MS and its
Member Boards, Visiting Scholars conduct research that i
s re
levant to
Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification/Continuing Certifi
c
ation. Through their research and program engagement, scholars help inform the fields of professional development, physician self-regulation, and quality improvement.
The Visiting Scholars Program is open to
early career physicians, junior
faculty, fellows, residents, and individuals holding a Master's or Doctorate
degree in public health, health services research, and public health
policy and administration, or other related disciplines.
Scholars will be selected and awarded $12,500 each to support their research and travel for this program. The application deadline is 5 pm CT on May 1, 2018.
Register
for a free, hour-long informational webinar at
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