Healio (09/19/24) Bascom, Emma

Advances in medical knowledge and the need to reinforce previous knowledge highlight the importance of continued learning and assessment. However, notes Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, president and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), with 71 state medical and osteopathic boards around the country, the requirements to maintain medical licensure vary widely. Continuing medical education (CME) is required in most states. That requirement may also be filled in some states with participation in an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) maintenance of certification (MOC) program. MOC programs, says McDonald, help to ensure that physicians are staying current in the medical knowledge they use to treat patients and make care-related decisions. However, the ABIM MOC program has drawn criticism in recent years, with thousands signing an online petition calling for the group to eliminate the MOC requirement. Earlier this year, the Infectious Diseases Society of America asked ABIM to update the program to make it more relevant to the scope of practice, clinically meaningful, supportive of continuous learning, and inclusive of infectious disease physicians. Steven K. Schmitt, MD, FIDSA, president of the IDSA, said: "Most of the problems identified by IDSA members relate to clinical and practice relevance, and the burden of time and money to complete the programs." Some other specialty societies have expressed similar concerns about the program. In response, ABIM has made some changes to the program, including adjusting its governance model to have dedicated specialty boards for each discipline and adding in 2022 the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA). This assessment, McDonald explains, can be taken anywhere, features 30 questions per quarter, and is done in a 5-year cycle. "With each question, you get immediate feedback, so you know right away whether you got the question right or wrong," he says. About 80% of individuals who chose an assessment now opt for the LKA, according to McDonald.

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