VIDEO: ABMS Member Boards Discuss Innovations in Assessment

On June 15, 2020

Representatives from three ABMS Member Boards discuss innovations in assessment that their respective boards have implemented. Kevin Graves, MBA, Strategic Project Manager for the American Board of Family Medicine, provides an update about the Family Medicine Certification Longitudinal Assessment pilot that began in December 2018. He says that more than 90 percent of physicians participating in the pilot appreciate the platform and the changes the board is making. Linda A. Althouse, PhD, Vice President of Assessment at the American Board of Pediatrics, describes the MOCA-Peds 2018 pilot. Robert Gaiser, MD, Chair of Anesthesiology at the University of Kentucky who serves on the American Board of Anesthesiology’s Board of Director, talks about how the board has partnered with the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology to develop longitudinal assessment items for MOCA Minute®.


TRANSCRIPT
Kevin Graves (ABFM): ABFM’s Family Medicine Certification Longitudinal Assessment, or FMCLA as we call it, is a pilot exam alternative because physicians the ability to take their exam in a time and setting that they choose rather than going to a brick-and-mortar test center. The longitudinal assessment approach benefits diplomates because it lets them take questions at a time in place of their choosing. It provides immediate feedback as to whether or not they get the question right or wrong. It provides information about what why the right answer is the right answer and references as to why the question was even being asked and evidence that supports it. Now that we’re about six months out we’re trying to gather information about people’s perceptions about the program as a whole and if they’re preparing differently than they did in previous iterations of the exam. The feedback we’ve received on the pilot program thus far has been very positive. Greater than 90 percent of the physicians who are participating in the program appreciate the changes that we’re making appreciate the platform and the program as a whole.

Linda A. Althouse (ABPeds): MOCA PEDs is a web-based platform. It’s a learning assessment as well where pediatricians will get a series of questions every quarter that they answer and it is delivered via mobile device or a computer and it is a continuous assessment rather than being a point-in-time assessment.

Robert R. Gaiser, MD (ABA): The MOCA Minute project was initially a pilot project that became a permanent component that all diplomates of the American Board of Anesthesiology participate. All comment on its positivity and really enjoy the fact that it is extremely relevant to their practice and advances anesthesiology. The project does require a lot of questions which means that we need to tap into several areas so one of the things the American Board of Anesthesiology explored was the ability to collaborate with the subspecialty societies. The American Board of Anesthesiology benefits from getting questions that are very current and relevant while the society benefits by that it can generate content as well as increased visibility on its part. The diplomates benefit by receiving up-to-date knowledge and it ultimately is the patient who benefits from this improved knowledge.

Related Articles

More Articles