Two of the American Board of Medical Specialties’ (ABMS) Member Boards have replaced their 10-year, secure Maintenance of Certification (MOC) examination with CertLink®, while the remaining five are forging ahead with their pilots.
CertLink is an innovative technology platform that supports the creation of online assessment programs that drive physician professional development and learning. It is based on longitudinal assessment, a method designed to help ensure continuous acquisition of knowledge over time and the coverage of important and emerging topics impacting public health. This method helps physicians increase their understanding, knowledge, and skills toward achieving the practice standards for board certification. Through CertLink, physicians can choose when, where, and how they are assessed.
To date, board certified physicians have answered more than one million questions across the seven Member Boards. Overall, participants have given CertLink a 97 percent approval rating.
As of January 2020:
- The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR) became the first Member Board using CertLink to move from a pilot to a permanent longitudinal assessment program, joining other Member Boards that have transitioned to longitudinal assessment options using different platforms. ABPMR decided to replace its 10-year exam with longitudinal assessment after completing a one-year pilot in 2019. ABPMR recently published a study demonstrating that physicians who participated in its longitudinal assessment pilot performed better on the 10-year exam than non-participants. ABPMR will retire its 10-year MOC Examination after its final administration this fall.
- The American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) also will be replacing its 10-year, secure exam with CertLink, following a successful pilot program. ABMGG has begun enrolling all board certified medical geneticists participating in its continuing certification program into CertLink.
- More than half of all board certified colon and rectal surgeons are participating in CertLink since the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery launched the second phase of its pilot in July 2018.
- The American Board of Pathology (ABPath) enrolled all 9,000-plus time-limited board certified pathologists into CertLink, now in its seventh quarter of pilot testing. ABPath expects to offer CertLink as an alternative to the traditional exam beginning in 2021.
- The American Board of Dermatology launched the second phase of its CertLink pilot with more than 4,000 diplomates enrolled.
- The American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (ABOHNS) will continue to pilot CertLink through the end of this year. As the pilot progresses, ABOHNS has transitioned from having three to eight practice areas available for board certified otolaryngologists. Through a specialty society collaboration, continuing medical education credit also is being awarded during the second year of the pilot.
- Nuclear medicine residents will be joining nuclear medicine specialists participating in the second year of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine’s four-year CertLink pilot program.
© 2020 American Board of Medical Specialties
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