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Use the ABMS Continuing Certification Reference Center (CCRC) to obtain information and access additional sources to support your interests. The CCRC is provided by the ABMS Research and Education Foundation (REF).

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The CCRC contains references across multiple specialties relating to physician Board Certification. Initial certification and continuing certification references are categorized by studies, reviews, and commentaries or editorials. Please visit our FAQ section for more information.

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What's New


The following titles were recently added. Click on the blue title text to link to the original source of each article. View the full list of new titles and associated citations in the A-Z Reference Database. New titles are listed as "New" for 30 days.

New Titles

The American Board of Family Medicine's 8 Years of Experience with Differential Item Functioning

From the abstract:
"Differential item functioning (DIF) procedures flag examination questions in which examinees from different subpopulations who are of equal ability do not have the same probability of answering it correctly. Few medical certification boards employ DIF procedures because they do not collect the needed data on the examinee's race or ethnicity. This article summarizes the American Board of Family Medicine's (ABFM) combined use of DIF procedures and an expert panel to review certification questions for bias."

Prioritizing Health Equity in Patient-reported Outcome Measurement to Improve Surgical Care

From the introduction, "Disparities in surgical outcomes are the unjust and avoidable systemic differences in the quality and quantity of individuals’ outcomes that cannot be ascribed to clinical appropriateness, need, or informed patient preferences and could arise from structural factors and discrimination based on age, sex, identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or geographic location...Health equity is concerned with providing what patients need rather than mere equality in access to health care, with an emphasis on patient vulnerabilities often incurred by adverse social determinants of health."

Increasing Faculty Participation and Mentorship in Quality Improvement with an Experiential Four-Hour Workshop

From the abstract, "Graduate medical education programs lack enough faculty trained in quality improvement (QI). A major barrier to increasing the number of faculty competent in QI is insufficient time to engage in training. Research is missing on the effectiveness of short faculty development workshops to teach academic faculty QI principles and promote participation and mentorship in QI projects."

Interrater Reliability in the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Part II Certification Examination Impact of a New Assessment Design

From the abstract, "The design of medical board certification examinations continues to evolve with advances in testing innovations and psychometric analysis. The potential for subjectivity is inherent in the design of oral board examinations, making improvements in reliability and validity especially important. The purpose of this quality improvement study was to analyze the impact of using two examiners on the overall reliability of the oral certification examination in physical medicine and rehabilitation."

Improving Patient Safety and Quality in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Through Participation in the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Continuing Certification Program

From the abstract, "The American Board of Medical Specialties Continuing Certification Program’s Improvement in Medical Practice Standard requires physicians to participate in practice improvement activities...Review of quality improvement projects submitted to the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for continuing certification compliance revealed that most diplomates (70.1%) used available topic-specific options..This study demonstrates the efforts of physiatrists to improve care and the potential impact of these efforts on patient care and safety through participation in continuing certification."

Development and Results of the First Certification Examination in the American Board of Medical Specialties Neurocritical Care Subspecialty

From the abstract, "This article reviews the development of the American Board of Medical Specialties subspecialty in neurocritical care (NCC) and describes the requirements for certification and the results of the first certification examination administered in October 2021...An established process was also followed to set the criterion-referenced passing standard...the combined efforts of representatives from the ABPN, ABA, ABEM, ABIM, and American Board of Neurological Surgery yielded a quality assessment instrument to identify physicians who possess the expertise required to be certified in NCC."

Podcasting as a Learning Tool in Medical Education: Prior to and During the Pandemic Period

From the abstract, "Podcasts have seen significant growth as a medium for medical education over the last 15 years...A literature search...was conducted to analyze and discuss how podcasts are utilized in medical education, both before and during the pandemic, and how this form of asynchronous education may influence clinical decision-making and patient outcomes. Finally, this review discusses how learners’ habits while using podcasts may affect the way in which the information is internalized and the future of using podcasts to supplement medical education."

Content and process: using continuous quality improvement to teach and evaluate learning outcomes in quality improvement residency education

From the abstract, "Psychiatry has not prioritized quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS) to the same degree as other medical specialties. Professional capacity building in QIPS through the education of residents is essential to improving the quality and safety of mental healthcare delivery...This study adds to the limited literature which uses continuous quality improvement to enhance QIPS education, which is particularly needed in mental health."

The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology's remote certifying examination: successes and challenges

From the abstract: "In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology [conducted the 2020 and 2021 examinations remotely].Overall, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology remote certifying examinations have been well-received by candidates and examiners according to posttest survey data...During this process, the American Board of Medical Specialties approval was required, and the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing served as our testing-industry guideline to ensure valid interpretation of scores and fairness to candidates."

Strategies to improve communication about neurocognitive impacts in pediatric oncology: Quality improvement findings

From the abstract, "Neurocognitive deficits are common among children who receive central nervous system (CNS)-directed therapy for childhood cancer. Parents report that they lack information from and communication with oncology providers about neurocognitive impacts of therapy. Furthermore, oncology providers report they lack training and institutional support to appropriately address the neurocognitive needs of these patients/families."

Relationship Between the American Board of Ophthalmology Maintenance of Certification Program and Actions Against the Medical License

From the abstract, "[The purpose of this retrospective cohort study is to] evaluate the likelihood of disciplinary actions against medical licenses of ophthalmologists who maintained board certification through successful completion of the American Board of Ophthalmology Maintenance of Certification program compared with ophthalmologists who did not maintain certification."

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  • Topics: Topics include main aspects of certification research as well as special topics commonly appearing in certification literature.
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