The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) examination may help ensure that physicians have maintained competence and currency in the medical knowledge, as well as judgment required to make important care decisions, according to a paper published March 2 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Kelli Samonte, PhD, et al., detail the development process of the ABIM Cardiovascular Disease MOC Examination and how it establishes uniform standards to help the public obtain evidence-based care by qualified physicians. The authors note that the Cardiovascular Disease Exam Committee serves to develop the examination blueprint; create questions according to the blueprint specifications; maintain the currency and relevance of the question pool; and monitor the performance of existing questions.

The authors also explain how the ABIM examination development process follows a specific set of standards that look at validity, reliability and fairness – the foundational concepts on which examinations should be built and evaluated. They note that one goal of the ABIM examinations is to maintain a consistent, meaningful standard across examination forms and across years.

Furthermore, the authors note that many characteristics define the competency of physicians in practice. They add that ethical behavior, bedside manners, communications skills, compassion and adherence to practice standards are also important components that define professionalism.

"As limited as any assessment may be, the act of committing to a knowledge assessment process by itself defines integrity and commitment to serve society and honor the profession," the authors conclude.

In 2019, the ACC and ABIM announced a new MOC assessment option to offer cardiologists more choice, relevance and convenience in meeting the assessment requirement of the MOC program. This assessment option, called the Collaborative Maintenance Pathway (CMP), is designed to integrate lifelong learning with assessment and will be delivered through ACCSAP, CathSAP, EP SAP and Heart Failure SAP this year. These CMP SAPs will offer a new feature called the Performance Assessment.

Performance Assessment consists of approximately 60 questions that are focused on one or two specific topic areas in the field. A new Performance Assessment will be available for two one week periods each year, covering approximately 20 percent of the field so that in a span of five years the breadth of the field will be covered.

If enrollees successfully engage in CMP SAP educational materials and pass the Performance Assessment that is offered each year, they will be considered by the ABIM to be satisfying the assessment requirement towards maintaining your certification and will not need to take the ABIM 10-year MOC exam or the ABIM Knowledge Check-in (every two years).

The 2020 Performance Assessments dates are:

• Cardiovascular Disease delivered through ACCSAP: Sept. 9 – 15 and Dec. 2 – 8
• Interventional Cardiology delivered through CathSAP: Aug. 19 – 25 and Nov. 4 – 10
• Clinical Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology delivered through EP SAP: Aug. 19 – 25 and Nov. 4 – 10
• Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology delivered through Heart Failure SAP: TBD

Enrollment is currently open for all specialties with the exception of Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology. Enrollment for that specialty will be opening later this year.

Click here to purchase and enroll today.

Keywords: Internal Medicine, Certification, Evidence-Based Medicine

< Back to Listings