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In the near future, otolaryngologists will have a new option for fulfilling the exam requirement for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Instead of taking and passing the Part III component of MOC approximately every 10 years to ensure recertification, an alternative test will soon be available that consists of a limited number of questions given more frequently to assess and provide feedback to physicians in real time through an online portal.
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February 2017CertLink, the pilot program that is being developed by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), uses a web-based platform as an innovative approach to assessment. It is one program among a wide variety of MOC innovations the ABMS Member Boards are currently exploring, according to Rich Waters, MBA, CAE, vice president of marketing and communications for ABMS. “CertLink will allow ABMS and the Boards community to explore an assessment model that for some may become an appropriate alternative,” he said.
The American Board of Otolaryngology (ABOto) is one of several boards participating in the CertLink pilot that, for otolaryngologists, will launch in 2018. “CertLink is a new initiative by some of the boards to move away from the high-stakes 10-year exam, which some people refer to as summative assessment, to a more formative assessment of knowledge,” said Randy Weber, MD, past president of the ABOto and chair of the department of Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.