Diplomate Digest - The American Board of Ophthalmology Blog

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Jul 31, 2019
4 min

New Timelines Introduced for Written, Oral Examinations

A new examination timeline in place at the American Board of Ophthalmology provides graduating residents with the opportunity to achieve board certification within nine months. The Written Qualifying Examination (WQE), traditionally given in the spring, has been moved to September. The Oral Examination, previously offered two times per year, will be held once annually in March, starting with the 2020 administration. Under the old certification timeline, graduating residents r

Dec 6, 2018
3 min

Moving the Goalposts

“Please stop moving the goalposts.” That was the request of a colleague who attended the ABO’s Learning Lounge session on Maintenance of Certification (MOC) at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting in Chicago this past October. There is no denying that much has changed at the ABO during the past couple of years – and that much change is afoot. And there is no doubt that change sometimes can be uncomfortable and annoying. So, please allow me to explain why movin

Nov 8, 2018
1 min

November Holiday Hours

The American Board of Ophthalmology will be closed for business on Thursday, November 22 (Thanksgiving Day) and Friday, November 23. If you are planning to work on Maintenance of Certification activities (such as improvement projects or online examinations) over the holiday weekend, please consider contacting the ABO in advance of these dates with any questions or scheduling needs you may have. To reach the ABO Office, call 610-664-1175 or write to moc@abop.org. All calls and

Sep 18, 2018
4 min

Financial Transparency: How the ABO Manages Expenses & Revenue (2018)

What is the ABO’s annual budget? What are its sources of revenue and how is the money spent? As depicted in the accompanying graphic, the ABO’s sole source of income is fees for its examinations (written, oral, and Maintenance of Certification), totaling approximately $4.8 million annually. On the expense side, approximately $2.5 million is required to conduct the initial written ($815,000) and oral ($1.68 million) certifying examinations. Expenses to administer the Maintenan

Sep 12, 2018
1 min

ABO Earns GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency

The American Board of Ophthalmology recently earned the 2018 Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information. The ABO is committed to transparency and integrity in stewarding its finances, which are derived almost entirely from examination fees. “ABO diplomates and candidates for ABO certification are our colleagues, and they should be confident that the ABO, as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the public and

Sep 10, 2018
2 min

The ABO Office Has a New Mailing Address

After nearly 40 years in its leased office space in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the ABO office is transitioning to a fully virtual office in October. Staff will operate as a distributed workforce, with the goals of allowing the ABO to boost productivity, reduce operational expenses, and focus on the continued development of learning, assessment, and improvement resources for ophthalmologists. The new mailing address for all business correspondence is: American Board of Ophthal