Diplomate Digest - The American Board of Ophthalmology Blog

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) recently announced a new monthly podcast series with ACCME President and CEO, Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, where he discusses topics that affect clinicians, educators, and healthcare thought leaders in CME today. Our first episode, available now, discusses including patients as partners in CME. Upcoming episodes chronicle physician burnout, combating overconfidence in the workplace, and the changing role of CME.

Survey of Ophthalmology has updated its website to promote its participation in the article-based component of the American Board of Ophthalmology’s Quarterly Questions program. The journal’s contribution to this year’s Quarterly Questions’ activity, “Clinical Decision-Making Heuristics and Cognitive Biases for the Ophthalmologist,” may be accessed here as one of the ABO’s core article options. The full list of article offerings from Quarterly Questions’ inception in 2017 thr

The Quarterly Questions program, which consists of 40 knowledge-based and 10 article-based questions annually, is the activity through which diplomates obtain credit for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part III: Assessment of Knowledge, Judgment, and Skills. A popular question I have been asked is: why can’t participation in CME courses replace the need for an assessment? When it comes to answering these questions, I always start by explaining the purpose of the assessment

Last October, I left the American Board of Ophthalmology Oral Examination in San Francisco and flew to Los Angeles to visit my son, who had just moved across the country. The night I arrived, we walked out of his apartment and noticed a group of people standing in the street, staring up into the sky. We looked up and saw something that resembled Daenerys Targaryen's dragons flying overhead. With Hollywood nearby, I figured it was some kind of special effect for a movie produc

In 2019, the American Board of Ophthalmology introduced two new incentives for Quarterly Questions participation which offer you the opportunity to claim additional credit for meeting Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements in Patient Safety (Part II) and Improvement in Medical Practice (Part IV). Completion of the Quarterly Questions program already satisfies MOC Part III. Here’s how the incentive works: Step 1: Participate in the 2019 Quarterly Questions Program N

Excellence begins at board certification, but it doesn’t end there. For physicians, what it means to be excellent advances with every new discovery and technological breakthrough. To offer patients the highest levels of care in ophthalmology, board-certified ophthalmologists adapt and improve on a lifelong continuum. So, too, does the program for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). What started as a regimented sequence of activities and assessments in the 1990s has evolved in

The impetus for board certification in American medicine did not come from the federal government or even public watchdogs. It arose more than a century ago from practicing physicians like you who wanted to address concerns about the qualifications and training of individuals claiming to be specialists in ophthalmology. In the early 1900s, leaders of our profession came together and established a framework for board certification in a medical specialty that would go on to set

The American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO) will partner with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) in 2019 to expand opportunities for ABO-Certified ophthalmologists to earn Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit for participating in continuing medical education (CME) activities that meet ABO standards. The new collaboration is designed to increase the number and diversity of accredited CME activities that meet the requirements for ABO MOC and

If you attended the American Board of Ophthalmology’s Learning Lounge at AAO 2018 last month, you were among the first to hear about the improvements coming to the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program in 2019. In response to the feedback of the diplomate community in ophthalmology, and thanks to the hard work of your peer content writers and reviewers, the ABO looks forward to the January release of a 2019 recertification program that enhances the diplomate experience,

The American Board of Ophthalmology’s new Quarterly Questions program brings the future of assessment in clinical knowledge to today’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Both a learning activity and an assessment tool, the Quarterly Questions program is available online, on-demand and may be completed at your own pace. The program invites you to answer questions in increments throughout the 10-year cycle in order to measure practice-related knowledge in a longitudina

An 80-year-old man arrives at the ER complaining of blurred vision, just one week after routine cataract surgery. What happens next is up to you in this Virtual Patient Case co-created by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). This free online activity, approved for .25 AMA PRA Category 1™ credits, is designed to provide non-geriatrician specialists with guidance on best practices in the care of older adults. This specific

American Board of Ophthalmology diplomates certified or recertified after 2012 should complete 8 Self-Assessment CME (SACME) credits per year (and attest to their completion every other year) as part of the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. If you’re still looking for ways to meet your SACME total before the end of the year and you’re attending the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) 2018 Annual Meeting in October, you’ll have 21 options for increasing your SA

ABO Learning Lounge: Learn About Quarterly Questions On Monday, Oct. 29 from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, the ABO will host a Quarterly Questions Learning Lounge at the 2018 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Annual Meeting in Chicago. Join us in Theater 1 to learn more about our newest assessment program and hear from some “early adopters.” Hosted by ABO MOC Chair Andreas K. Lauer, M.D., the discussion will also feature ABO Directors Jane Bailey, M.D., Harold E. Shaw, Jr., M.D., a

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) launched a new Continuing Certification Directory this month. The site hosts CME opportunities that have been approved by one or more ABMS Member Boards for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit, including the American Board of Ophthalmology. The ABMS Continuing Certification Directory provides access to high quality, practice-relevant, accredited CME activities. You can easily browse activities that the ABO has approved fo

In a recent post for Forbes, author, physician, and behavioral scientist Peter Ubel writes about something that may be coming between you and your patients—your computer. He cites two studies that analyzed physician time. Both found results you may already expect—that doctors spend as much as half their working hours using EHRs and less than half their time on direct patient care. “Good medical care depends upon creating work environments that motivate clinicians to spend tim

The American Board of Ophthalmology will recognize attendance at the 2018 American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting for up to 8 credits of Self-Assessment CME. The Annual Meeting will be held March 1-4, 2018 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, New York, NY. What is Self-Assessment CME? Self-Assessment CME, known as "SACME," promotes active learning. Activities that qualify for self-assessment involve question and answer exercises designed to evaluate the participant's unders

In a new blog post published by Ophthalmology Times, Florida diplomate Joshua Mali, M.D., highlights the American Board of Ophthalmology's Quarterly Questions Pilot Program as one of ophthalmology's top stories of the year. He writes: "As a board certified ophthalmologist and ABO diplomate, I am currently using the pilot program and find it to be fantastic. I encourage all board certified ophthalmologists to consider utilizing it in their maintenance of certification." Click