April 11, 2018 01:31 pm Cindy Borgmeyer – If you'd like to offer your insight on the current state of continuing board certification and how it can best evolve to truly serve the needs of physicians and their patients, here's your chance. You have until May 11 to take advantage of a survey opportunity to share your thoughts on the future of continuing board certification.
"It's no secret that many family physicians have strongly held beliefs about the current process of continuing board certification," said AAFP President Michael Munger, M.D., of Overland Park, Kan. "For those who want to see changes in the continuing certification process that would ensure its relevance for physicians and value for patients, this is the perfect opportunity to offer your critical assessment and constructive ideas to help in this important work."
Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future, is a collaborative effort launched in September 2017 by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and its 24 member boards to bring together multiple stakeholders to re-envision continuing board certification.
The Vision Initiative, as it's known, is led by a commission composed of representatives from a wide range of physician specialties and settings, as well as professional medical organizations, national specialty and state medical societies, hospitals and health systems, the general public, and other stakeholders.
The Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission is charged with reviewing published literature and reports, eliciting testimony, and conducting primary data collection from a broad cross-section of the physician community, as well as from a diverse group of stakeholders. The goal is to engage and gather the perspectives of those involved in and affected by physician certification, including practicing physicians; advocates for patients and the public; medical specialty associations; state medical societies; accreditors; credentialing organizations; health care delivery systems; experts in assessment, learning and quality improvement; certifying boards; and other professional organizations.
Grounded in the foundational belief that continuing certification should be integral to physicians' self-regulation and their professional identity, the Vision Initiative aims to foster open, candid and collaborative dialogue across these stakeholder groups to
"Don't miss your chance to help shape the future of continuing board certification," urged Munger, who delivered the AAFP's comments on the Vision Initiative during a March 19 commission meeting in Washington, D.C. "The Academy has given its feedback -- now it's your turn.
"By completing the Vision Initiative's survey, you're making your voice heard."
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