Notes From the Chair
by Scott H. Sicherer, MD
It is a privilege and honor to serve as the 2014 Chair of the Board of Directors of the ABAI. Years before my becoming involved as a director, I had given little thought to the responsibilities of the board and assumed directors were primarily responsible for creating the very challenging examinations that had me leaving the test feeling discouraged. In fact, your directors are tirelessly involved in a myriad of activities that help promote the mission of the ABAI, which is to improve the quality of medical care for our patients by the development and utilization of professional and educational standards for the initial certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) for our specialty.
Therefore, aside from creating tests, our directors, as well as the ABAI staff including President Stephen Wasserman, interact with diplomates in various venues to provide information about the certification and MOC process, with our parent boards in pediatrics and internal medicine, and with the Residency Review Committee, the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and myriad other groups that play a role in ensuring quality standards. To explore expansion of MOC products, the directors also discuss common goals with our professional societies and organizations that create these products. Additionally, the board is responsible for addressing concerns such as appropriate representation of certification, ethical and professional conduct, and financial stewardship.
The board is comprised of 16 individuals serving six-year terms with an equal number of internists and pediatricians. The ABAI seeks directors with experience in a variety of practice settings. Nomination to the board is made by the ABAI and sponsoring organizations, including the American Medical Association, the Clinical Immunology Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and our two professional organizations. Being a director allows one to serve our specialty in a very impactful way so make your interest in being nominated known!
And now a word about the tests. The directors indeed develop the questions used for our Recent Advances module as well as the secure examinations. With regard to the secure examinations, these tests are hard! But they are challenging for a reason. We are generally used to doing very well on tests and expect, perhaps, to get nearly every question correct to prove mastery. However, modern certifying examinations are based on a philosophy of “criterion referenced testing.” Briefly, the psychometric process is designed to identify those with the knowledge of a competent practitioner in the specialty. The test is therefore not graded on a curve and, theoretically, everyone taking the exam could “pass.” However, the statistical background to this type of testing requires an examination with very challenging questions. Therefore, it is not uncommon to leave the test feeling that it was incredibly difficult. Since 2006, the pass rate for the recertifying examination has been about 98% (range, 94-100%). Of course, these comments should not discourage you from studying and keeping up with the literature! The directors also periodically evaluate the examination “blueprint” to ensure that the content is current and meaningful.
As indicated above, the board is dedicated to improving the MOC process. The directors participate in MOC and, at least two years after completing our term, re-engage with taking the secure examination. Therefore, we understand what you are being asked to do for MOC and appreciate that the process is relatively new and sometimes daunting. One current initiative is to survey diplomates to learn more about your views of the process and to provide us with valuable feedback. Keep an eye out for e-mails in the last week of July with a link to the survey and please respond. We will provide you with information about results over the subsequent months.
In addition to completing the upcoming survey, feel free to contact me or the staff with any questions or concerns. The ABAI is supported not only by the directors and president, but also by six amazing people who keep the process running (http://www.abai.org/Staff.asp).
We are here to help. Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.