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, removes data-entry barriers, and increases the value of each step of the program.
More details about these changes are coming soon. Your MOC Status Page will automatically update in January. In the meantime, here are the 2019 program highlights:
Streamlined Requirements
The closed-book Demonstration of Ophthalmic Cognitive Knowledge (DOCK) Examination has been replaced by the popular, online, on-demand Quarterly Questions program. Nearly 3,500 diplomates have participated in the program thus far and 9 out of 10 participants say they would recommend it to a peer.
Periodic Ophthalmic Review Tests (PORTs) have been eliminated from the Part II requirement for lifelong learning. Since PORTs were typically used as DOCK preparation and study materials, they are no longer essential to the MOC framework. Standard Practice Improvement Modules (PIMs) have been replaced by a broad menu of Improvement in Medical Practice activity options, some of which will also count for CME credit.
Triple the Value from Quarterly Questions
Participation in the Quarterly Questions program will help you meet requirements in 3 out of the 4 parts of the MOC program:
Part II: Read designated Quarterly Questions articles and answer the associated questions to satisfy the Patient Safety learning requirement. Plus, claim CME/SACME credit for completion of the 2019 questions.
Part III: Complete the entire Quarterly Questions program to meet the knowledge assessment requirement.
Part IV: Read designated Quality Improvement articles and answer the associated questions in the Quarterly Questions platform to meet 1 of 2 components of the revised Improvement in Medical Practice requirement.
Enhanced Improvement Activity Menu
The Part IV: Improvement in Medical Practice requirement now offers a broader menu of options designed to be integrated into what you are already doing, including selecting quality improvement articles in the article-based portion of Quarterly Questions, creating your own improvement project using data from your practice, or completing a designated practice improvement CME activity. More details about the enhanced menu will be published soon.
Content That’s Relevant to What You Do Every Day
Whether you are a comprehensive ophthalmologist or someone with one or more areas of subspecialty practice focus, both the Quarterly Questions program and the Improvement in Medical Practice project can be tailored to assess and improve the clinical knowledge and skills that are most meaningful to you. As part of Quarterly Questions, 30 of the 40 knowledge-based questions you will see in 2019 will be focused on the subspecialty of your choice, while 10 questions will cover topics applicable to all ophthalmologists. Article options are also arranged under categories for core, comprehensive, and subspecialty areas to promote clinically relevant learning and further study. Similarly, Improvement in Medical Practice projects are no longer “one-diagnosis-fits-all.” Projects can be designed using your own practice data and focused on the topics you want to measure and improve.
Look for more program details in the December 2018 edition of your Diplomate Digest email.