2015 Annual Report of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc.

Starting in 2014, the ABPN began to support the development of innovative education and/or evaluation projects that promote effective residency/fellowship training or lifelong learning of practicing psychiatrists and neurologists. Each year, a selection committee composed of current ABPN Directors and psychiatry and neurology department chairs and training directors selects up to two psychiatry and two neurology faculty awardees from those who apply. Awardees receive up to $50,000 per year for two years and commit at least 25% of their time to their education or evaluation projects.

More detail concerning the awardees is provided elsewhere in this report, but it is important to note that the twelve selected so far have come from different academic departments in all regions of the country. Awardees’ projects have covered a range of topics important not only to the ABPN but to the broad fields of psychiatry and neurology education and evaluation, including improving clinical skills evaluations; digital recording to promote interviewing skills; quality improvement strategies to facilitate evidence-based practice; on-line curriculum to improve understanding of tobacco use disorders; wearable devices for remote evaluations of resident interviews; assessment and improvement in professionalism among practicing physicians; improving resident attitudes toward patients with comorbid serious mental disorders and substance use disorders; motivational interviewing to enhance care of patients with substance use disorders; simulated patients to evaluate communication and interpersonal skills; identification of social determinants contributing to mental illnesses and disparities in care; and competency-based assessments for residency milestones.

Many, if not most, of the projects supported to date have implications for the education and/or evaluation of both psychiatrists and neurologists. Follow-up will be done to determine the effects that projects have had not only on their departments of origin but more broadly as well.

Beginning in 2016, the ABPN will solicit proposals from psychiatry and neurology faculty for research projects related to certification and/or MOC. It is hoped that these research projects will help the ABPN understand the strengths and weaknesses of its current certification and MOC processes and suggest where improvements might be made. Each year, a selection committee composed of current ABPN Directors and nominees from academic departments of psychiatry and neurology will select up to two psychiatry and two neurology awardees from those who apply. Awardees will receive up to $100,000 and their projects may take up to two years to complete.

The ABPN believes strongly that it must collaborate with academic departments of psychiatry and neurology and support the work of their talented faculty to ensure that candidates for certification receive the best education possible, that practicing psychiatrists and neurologists participate in effective lifelong learning, and that relevant research findings are available to guide ABPN programs for certification and MOC. The ABPN hopes that the two special educational and research programs described here will help achieve those important goals.

Dr. Miravalle is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Vice Chair of Education, Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine. His project will focus on the development of a competency-based assessment program for residency programs that maps assessment tools to the neurology Milestones.

Dr. Shim is Vice Chair for Education and Faculty Development in the Department of Psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital, North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System and an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. Her project will involve educating psychiatrists to identify the role of social determinants that contribute to mental illnesses and disparities and providing them with essential tools to effect change in their patients and communities.

Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Adult Residency Program Director, Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine. His project will explore the use of unannounced simulated patients to evaluate neurology residents’ communication and interpersonal skills.

Dr. Srinivasan is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Associate Director of Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Training, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine. She will develop and implement an online curriculum to train psychiatry residents in motivational interviewing to enhance the care of patients with substance use disorders.

Last year’s recipients of the 2015–16 Faculty Innovation in Education Award, who are currently midway into their two-year fellowship, include:

Dr. Avery is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College. His project focuses on understanding psychiatry residents’ attitudes toward individuals diagnosed with comorbid serious mental illness and substance use disorders and developing interventions to improve these attitudes.

Dr. Leep is an Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic. The goals of her project are to develop a conceptual framework for the assessment and continuous improvement of professionalism among practicing physicians and to propose a model for incorporating professionalism into maintenance of certification (MOC) programs.

Dr. Southerland is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Public Health Sciences, Department of Neurology, University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is assessing the feasibility and reliability of mobile telemedicine using wearable devices for remote evaluation of neurology resident patient examinations compared with face-to-face observation.

Dr. Williams is a Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Her project involves development and testing of an on-line curriculum on tobacco use disorders for psychiatry residents.

The Faculty Innovation in Education Award Committee, chaired by Robert Golden, MD, includes Drs. Allison Brashear, Deborah Cowley, Steven Epstein, Laurie Gutmann, Ralph Józefowicz, Jaffar Khan, and Kailie Shaw.

It was the consensus of the ABPN directors that the forum provided an opportunity for key educational leaders in psychiatry and neurology to participate in in-depth discussions about resident competence. The ABPN plans to survey practicing psychiatrists and neurologists to gain their perspectives on these issues. More information on the 2015 Crucial Issues Forum is available in a separate publication on the ABPN website.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by J. Lyness to Genesee Valley Psychiatric Association, Rochester Academy of Medicine, February 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by L. Faulkner to the Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association, February 2015.

ABPN Informational Session on MOC, presented by J. Clay Goodman to AAN Breakthroughs in Neurology Conference, February 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by Mary Lu, MD, Nevada Psychiatric Association, February 2015.

Update on Maintenance of Certification in Geriatric Psychiatry, presented by J. Lyness and D. Sewell, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Annual Meeting, March 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by J. Morris, Psychiatrists of Guam, March 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by B. Schneidman, Puget Sound Veterans Administration Health Care System – residents, March 2015.

How to Develop Video-Based Content for Computer-Based Examinations: Experiences and Lessons, presented by L. Shen and L. Benwitz to Association of Test Publishers Annual Meeting, March 2015.

ABPN Update, presented by L. Faulkner, American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training Annual Meeting, March 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by S. Epstein, Psychiatric Society of Westchester County, April 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by L. Faulkner, American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, April 2015.

Comparing Maintenance of Certification and Certification Examinations, presented by L. Shen and D. Juul at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, April 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by L. Faulkner, American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, May 2015.

The ABPN Perspective on Promoting and Assessing Resident Competence, presented by L. Faulkner at the ABPN Crucial Issues Forum on Resident Competence, May 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by J. Cheong, Oklahoma Psychiatric Physicians Association Meeting, June 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by C. Santos, Texas Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, July 2015.

Certification and MOC, presented by J. Anzia for Senior Resident Professional Development at Northwestern University, September 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by L. Faulkner, American Neurology Association Annual Meeting, September 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by R. Hargrave, U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress 2015, September 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program, presented by J. Anzia to Northwestern University Faculty Development Meeting, October 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by S. Lewis, American Academy of Neurology Fall Conference, October 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by L. Faulkner, Institute on Psychiatric Services, October 2015.

The ABPN MOC Program: Lifelong Learning for Psychiatrists and Neurologists, presented by L. Faulkner, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting, October 2015.

The ABPN continues its active involvement in the ABMS. The following ABPN directors, emeritus directors and staff served on committees and task forces:

Laurie Gutmann, M.D.: Subcommittee for MOC for physician-scientists

Kerry H. Levin, M.D.: Committee on Continuing Certification

Victor I. Reus, M.D.: Board of Directors for the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education

Barbara S. Schneidman, M.D., M.P.H.: Board of Directors

ABPN Staff:

Karen Back: MeetNet

Patricia Janda: ProNet

Catherine Szmurlo: ComNet

Patricia Vondrak: MOCNet

Paul Whittington: ComNet and TechNet

ABPN staff values the importance of attending meetings of our professional society partners and participating with display tables or booths, in order to meet with and answer questions from our candidates and diplomates. The following organizations were included in the 2015 schedule: