ENTtoday
  • Home
  • Practice Focus
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Departments
    • Issue Archive
    • TRIO Best Practices
      • Allergy
      • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
      • Head and Neck
      • Laryngology
      • Otology/Neurotology
      • Pediatric
      • Rhinology
      • Sleep Medicine
    • Career Development
    • Case of the Month
    • Everyday Ethics
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Medical Education
    • Online Exclusives
    • Practice Management
    • Resident Focus
    • Rx: Wellness
    • Special Reports
    • Tech Talk
    • Viewpoint
    • What’s Your O.R. Playlist?
  • Literature Reviews
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Events
    • Featured Events
    • TRIO Meetings
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Triological Society
    • Advertising Staff
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise
    • Place an Ad
    • Classifieds
    • Rate Card
  • Search

New Option for Maintenance of Certification

by Mary Beth Nierengarten • February 20, 2017

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version
© Have a nice day Photo/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

© Have a nice day Photo/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

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.

You Might Also Like

  • Certlink Offers New Option for Maintenance of Certification
  • The Controversy Over Maintenance of Certification
  • If Not Maintenance of Certification, What?
  • Maintenance of Certification: An Update
Explore This Issue
February 2017

CertLink, 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.

Formative assessment refers to a more continuous way of assessing knowledge versus the traditional approach of assessing knowledge at one point in time, and diplomates who choose to participate in the CertLink pilot will be tested on a more frequent basis than the Part III MOC exam. This will allow not only for a more continuous assessment of knowledge, but, importantly, will promote continuous learning.

“I think CertLink will address the concerns of our diplomates in that this will make MOC more clinically relevant and personalized,” said David Eisele, MD, chair of the ABOto MOC committee, Andelot Professor of Laryngology and Otology, and director of the department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore.

One particular benefit of participating in CertLink instead of the standard Part III MOC exam is its convenience. Instead of needing to prepare for a high stakes exam every 10 years and taking time away from clinical practice to go offsite to sit for the exam, CertLink comes to the diplomate via email notification that questions are available on the ABO website. Diplomates simply need to log on to the website to answer the questions [see “Benefits of CertLink,” below].

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. —Randy Weber, MD

How CertLink Works

Robert Miller, MD, MBA, ABOto executive director and editor of ENTtoday, describes CertLink as “basically the same thing as MOCA Minute, with minor modifications.”

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Features, Home Slider Tagged With: Certlink, education, maintenance of certification, MOCIssue: February 2017

You Might Also Like:

  • Certlink Offers New Option for Maintenance of Certification
  • The Controversy Over Maintenance of Certification
  • If Not Maintenance of Certification, What?
  • Maintenance of Certification: An Update

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

The Laryngoscope
Ensure you have all the latest research at your fingertips; Subscribe to The Laryngoscope today!

Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
Open access journal in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery is currently accepting submissions.

Classifieds

View the classified ads »

TRIO Best Practices

View the TRIO Best Practices »

Top Articles for Residents

  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Why More MDs, Medical Residents Are Choosing to Pursue Additional Academic Degrees
  • What Physicians Need to Know about Investing Before Hiring a Financial Advisor
  • Tips to Help You Regain Your Sense of Self
  • Should USMLE Step 1 Change from Numeric Score to Pass/Fail?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Is Middle Ear Pressure Affected by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use?
    • Keeping Watch for Skin Cancers on the Head and Neck
    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • What Happens to Medical Students Who Don’t Match?
    • Is Middle Ear Pressure Affected by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use?
    • New Research Shows Sense of Smell Alters How We See Colors
    • Resident Unions Are Growing in Popularity in Otolaryngology
    • Is Caring for the Homeless and Uninsured Really Someone Else’s Problem?
    • Otolaryngology Practices Use Digital Tools to Pre-authorize—With Mixed Results
    • A Look at the Past, Present, and Future of DEI Medical Education Initiatives

Polls

Do you think resident unions are a positive development for otolaryngology?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences

Visit: The Triological Society • The Laryngoscope • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology

Wiley
© 2023 The Triological Society. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN 1559-4939