ABPN Helps Psychiatrists Be the Best They Can Be
As part of a national movement to increase physicians' accountability to the patients they serve and to improve the quality of care provided to patients, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) has developed a Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program, as mandated by American Board of Medical Specialties. This program will require psychiatrists to show evidence of “self-assessment and lifelong learning” and pass a cognitive examination every 10 years.
Under the MOC program, psychiatrists must show evidence in four key areas: professional standing, self-assessment and lifelong learning, cognitive expertise, and performance in practice.
For evidence of professional standing, the ABPN requires that diplomates hold an unrestricted medical license to practice medicine.
Evidence of participation in self-assessment and lifelong learning requires the use of self-assessment tools and the completion of 300 specialty-specific, Category 1 continuing medical education (CME) credits over the 10-year MOC cycle.
The self-assessment and lifelong learning component will be phased in beginning in 2007.
This means psychiatrists must show evidence of participation in at least one relevant self-assessment activity and completion of a minimum of 30 specialty-specific Category 1 CME credit hours on the application for the 2007 cognitive examination. An additional 30 CME credits will be required each year thereafter during the phase-in period.
So, for example, a minimum of one self-assessment activity and 60 CME credits will be required to apply for the 2008 exam, one self-assessment activity and 90 CME credits to apply for the 2009 exam, and so forth.
Evidence of cognitive expertise is required one time during the 10-year MOC cycle. This is accomplished by successfully completing the MOC cognitive examination (formerly called the “recertification examination”). The cognitive examination is a computer-based examination with multiple-choice questions.
The evidence of performance in the practice component is under development and will focus on improving physicians' performance in practice.
According to Deborah Hales, M.D., director of APA's Division of Education and Career Development, APA has been actively involved in the MOC program“ by creating the educational tools our members will need to maintain their certification.”
She told Psychiatric News that APA's journal, Focus, and the Focus self-assessment exam will serve as the “backbone of a comprehensive, lifelong learning plan for psychiatrists, as well as help them prepare for the recertification exam.” Hales also pointed out that members can take advantage of 10 free online courses on APA's practice guidelines, “which will help psychiatrists prepare for recertification and improve their practice skills,” she said.
When asked about how the APA practice guidelines fit into the ABPN's MOC program, Stephen Scheiber, M.D., ABPN executive vice president, stated,“ Among the several methods of accomplishing the lifelong learning portion of MOC, the APA practice guidelines are one method for diplomates to use. The whole purpose of MOC is to enhance one's practice as a diplomate of the ABPN and better serve the public.”
As of October 1, 1994, ABPN began issuing 10-year, time-limited certificates in psychiatry, neurology, and child neurology.
Certificates issued in the subspecialties of addiction psychiatry, clinical neurophysiology, forensic psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, neurodevelopmental disabilities, pain medicine, psychosomatic medicine, and vascular neurology, including those issued prior to October 1, 1994, are all 10-year, time-limited certificates.
Time-limited certificates for child and adolescent psychiatry were introduced in 1995.
All ABPN time-limited certificates, regardless of their exact dates of issuance, expire 10 years later on December 31.
As of mid-July, 985 psychiatry certificates had been issued since the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of psychiatry certificates issued since the ABPN's inception in 1934 to 42,302.
The board first offered recertification in general psychiatry in 2002 to accommodate diplomates who did not want to wait 10 years before sitting for the recertification examination.
Forty-three diplomates have been recertified since 2002.
The 2004 recertification examination was administered August 2 to 6. This was a five-hour exam; applicants selected a date and site for their examination.
In 2005 the ABPN psychiatry recertification examination is scheduled from July 25 to 29 and August 1 to 5; the application deadline was October 1. Those who still wish to apply may do so and pay a late fee through March 1, 2005.
Beginning in 2005, the ABPN's computer-based examinations will be administered at Pearson Professional Centers throughout the country. The application process for all examinations remains the same.
When applicants receive the notification letter of their admissibility to an exam, they will be given instructions on how to select a date and register at a Pearson Professional Center of their choice. Details of this process will also be available on the ABPN Web site in the near future.
More information about the MOC program is posted online at<www.abpn.com>.▪
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Published online: 1 October 2004
Published in print: October 1, 2004
Notes
The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, through its Maintenance of Certification program, aims to enhance psychiatrists' practices and bolster the quality of psychiatric care.
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