2023 ABAI BOARD OF DIRECTORS INTERIM MEETING
6/15/2023
Highlights of the spring ABAI Board of Directors meeting held in Rosemont, IL are listed below. The meeting was productive and expertly led by Dr. Princess Ogbogu, Chair of the ABAI Board of Directors.
• Emeritus Directors appointed
• Inaugural 5-year CAP Cycle completion
• Ambassador Program Update
• DEI Initiatives
• Test development
• Finance review
• Artificial intelligence
• ABMS transparent display of diplomate status update
• Presentation by Emily Jakacki, ABAI Board of Directors Public Member
• ABMS Scholars Program
More details can be found below:
• Emeritus Directors appointed: The Board appointed Dr. Steven Wasserman as an ABAI Emeritus Director in honor of his distinguished service as ABAI President. In addition, the Board appointed Emeritus Director status to current volunteer leaders serving representative and liaison roles to external board certification community organizations including Doctors John Oppenheimer, Kathleen May, Leonard Bacharier and Theodore Freeman.
• Inaugural 5-year CAP Cycle completion: The Board received an initial report on the end of 5-year CAP cycle. For those completing 8 or more CAP blocks, the pass rate was >98% with all successful candidates automatically enrolled into their next 5-year CAP cycle. The Board will be conducting a deep dive into the data to include participation, performance, knowledge gap areas, performance disparities and topic choices by diplomates.
• Ambassador Program Update: Dr. Jeffrey Stokes provided an update on the launch of the Ambassador program including selection, training and initial presentations.
• DEI Initiatives: The Board reviewed initial raw data from the assessment of diplomate demographics for the purposes of assessment implicit bias prevention and inclusiveness for Board and volunteer positions. The Board also reviewed opportunities to increase diversity in volunteer positions through enhanced recruitment.
• Test development: The Board received an update from the Dr. Ted Freeman, Test Writing Committee Chair, and Brianna Wilkins, CAP Manager. The TWC doubled in size from the previous year and completed another successful year. All Directors participated in an item writing workshop organized by William Thompson, Director of Exam Development. This workshop reinforced best practices in areas of item construct and implicit bias mitigation.
• Finance review: The Board remains on budget for FY2023 and remains in solid financial standing and anticipates no increase in diplomate fees for the 5th year in a row. The Board reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and stewardship of resources.
• Artificial intelligence: The Board discussed implications, risks and perhaps even future use of AI. The Board voted to officially preclude the use of AI platforms for completion of CAP modules.
• ABMS transparent display of diplomate status update: The Board received an update on the ABMS standards for transparent display of a diplomate’s status across all Boards. Beginning this summer, ABMS Certification Matters website will display for every diplomate the certifying board, current certification status, specialty, year first certified, year most recently certified (if applicable), and whether actively maintaining certificate. The Board will re-review the ABAI website diplomate search display at a future meeting.
• Presentation by Emily Jakacki, ABAI Board of Directors Public Member: Ms. Jakacki provided an engaging presentation on today’s healthcare leadership challenges impacting health care systems, physicians and patients.
• ABMS Scholars Program: The Board receive a presentation by Dr. Greg Ogrinc, Senior VP Certification Standards and Programs on the ABMS Scholars Program enabling diplomates across all specialties to conduct board certification research in a yearlong ABMS mentorship program. Applications are now open for the 2023-24 cohort (insert hyperlink to page once created). ABAI is considering sponsoring a fellow in the 2024-25 cohort for dedicated research in allergy-immunology certification outcomes.