A CLOSER LOOK AT RECERTIFICATION CANDIDATE PASS RATES

Kenneth D. Royal; James C. Puffer

doi:10.1370/afm.1556

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Recertification exam has changed
Edward J Volpintesta

Published on: 11 July 2013

Published on: (11 July 2013)
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Recertification exam has changed
Edward J Volpintesta, physician
July 10, 2013
Annals of Family Medicine
Re "A closer look at recertification candidate pass rates" (July/August, 11(4): It is not completely true to say that the MOC exam has not changed.
I was grandfathered into the Family Medicine Boards almost forty years ago and had successfully recertified(1998-2005 being my last period). Up until then the test questions were answered with #2 pencils and included i...
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July 10, 2013
Annals of Family Medicine
Re "A closer look at recertification candidate pass rates" (July/August, 11(4): It is not completely true to say that the MOC exam has not changed.
I was grandfathered into the Family Medicine Boards almost forty years ago and had successfully recertified(1998-2005 being my last period). Up until then the test questions were answered with #2 pencils and included in addition to the cognitive portion a chart review to ascertain how certain parameters were being monitored, for example Hgb A1C and microalbuminuria in diabetics. I had always passed the exam but in 2006 (I think the date is correct) the exam became completely computerized and the chart review was eliminated. I did not pass and failed to pass a second time. In both exams about 30% of the material was not relevant to my practice. Had the chart review been in effect, I think that I would have passed. Of course my comprehensive knowedge of family medicine was not as sharp as it was thirty years previously when I had first sat for the exam but I had limited and customized my practice so that it no longer fit into the pure family medicine model. I didn't take a family medicine review course because I never took one before and besides I was repulsed by the idea of memorizing material that was not relevant to my practice. The recertification exam should not be a pass/fail test. Examinees shuold be given the answers to the questions that they have missed and given suggestions for remedial study. Clearly, the American Board Of Family Medicine's approach is to recertification is misguided. What was once a voluntary exam has been transformed into a requirement for medical staff membership and for re- licensure.
Competing interests: None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.