On January 2008, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) has replaced their "Recertification" program with Maintenance of Certification process in line with the process employed by other medical specialty bodies. Thus, all diplomats (including those who have life-time certificates) are required to take part in MOC. What exactly is MOC and how does CME fit in all of these? MOC or Maintenance of Certification is a process by which all professionals, or in this case all thoracic surgeons, assessed on how current their knowledge and skills are in terms of their field of work. This is also a way for all governing bodies, and the public in general, make sure that physicians maintain high levels of standards of patient care all throughout their careers. If you were wondering, CME is one of the requirements in the completion of MOC. After all, CME is practically a tool in achieving the goal of MOC - having well-equipped physicians all the time. The MOC for thoracic surgeons is a ten-year cycle with a benchmark on the fifth year that all diplomates have to comply with. On the fifth year of the cycle, a dimplomate's license will be verified and he or she will be required to submit hospital credentials. Also, all MOC applicants must complete the SESATS exercise and show documentation of practice improvement, among many other things. To better understand the process, you have to know that the ABTS MOC is also divided in to four parts and they are the following: • Part I - Professional Standing. Applicants/diplomates must have full, unrestricted license to practice medicine in any state in the United States or in Canada. He or she must also submit references or documents to show their level of clinical activity and status. • Part II - Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment. If you are still wondering where CME fits in all of these, this is where it does. All applicants must complete a total of 150 hours of AMA Category I CME every five years; that is about 30 hours per year. 75 CME hours has to be dedicated to a broad category of cardiothoracic surgery while the other half can be about anything related thoracic surgery or patient care. • Part III - Cognitive Expertise. This is where you need to successfully pass a comprehensive written exam. This is where all of those CME hours will really pay off. One can only take this after the 8th year of the MOC cycle. • Part IV - Evaluation of Performance in Practice. There are two parts to this: peer evaluation and outcome data. You must pass both successfully before you can finish MOC Part IV. Do not think of this as an extra burden; think of it as a shield for possible lawsuits. More knowledge and skills mean more proficiency and efficiency at work; higher efficiency gets you closer to zero casualty. |
