Suzanne Rose, MD,

In early March, AGA attended the usually closed-door American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) GI Specialty Board meeting. Dr. Suzanne Rose, AGA Institute education and training councillor, along with Lori Marks, Ph.D., AGA vice president for education and training, were there to advocate that ABIM reform maintenance of certification (MOC). Although we are viewing the invitation to attend this meeting as a positive step, we wish we had better news to report. It seems that ABIM has no definitive approach to change the high-stakes examination and that their current efforts are focused on maintaining business as usual.

ABIM acknowledged AGA’s call for ending the every-10-year, closed-book exam. ABIM’s own Assessment 2020 report even suggested consideration of alternative assessment strategies. Despite these appeals, and more from the medical community to end the exam, ABIM pointed to their research proving its validity. AGA leadership is both disappointed and frustrated by ABIM’s intransigence on this point. They are clinging to an exam that flies in the face of adult-learning theory and that is not relevant to practice. Closed-book assessments do not represent the current realities of medicine in the digital age.

Please see AGA’s alternate pathway to recertification, The Gastroenterologist: Accountable Professionalism in Practice or G-APP,which fosters active learning. We support the principles of lifelong learning as evidenced by ongoing CME activities, rather than lifelong testing.

We commit to you that we will keep up the pressure and push on multiple fronts for ABIM to reform MOC, and specifically, to end the MOC exam. We will keep you informed as we move forward.

In early March, AGA attended the usually closed-door American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) GI Specialty Board meeting. Dr. Suzanne Rose, AGA Institute education and training councillor, along with Lori Marks, Ph.D., AGA vice president for education and training, were there to advocate that ABIM reform maintenance of certification (MOC). Although we are viewing the invitation to attend this meeting as a positive step, we wish we had better news to report. It seems that ABIM has no definitive approach to change the high-stakes examination and that their current efforts are focused on maintaining business as usual.

ABIM acknowledged AGA’s call for ending the every-10-year, closed-book exam. ABIM’s own Assessment 2020 report even suggested consideration of alternative assessment strategies. Despite these appeals, and more from the medical community to end the exam, ABIM pointed to their research proving its validity. AGA leadership is both disappointed and frustrated by ABIM’s intransigence on this point. They are clinging to an exam that flies in the face of adult-learning theory and that is not relevant to practice. Closed-book assessments do not represent the current realities of medicine in the digital age.

Please see AGA’s alternate pathway to recertification, The Gastroenterologist: Accountable Professionalism in Practice or G-APP,which fosters active learning. We support the principles of lifelong learning as evidenced by ongoing CME activities, rather than lifelong testing.

We commit to you that we will keep up the pressure and push on multiple fronts for ABIM to reform MOC, and specifically, to end the MOC exam. We will keep you informed as we move forward.

In early March, AGA attended the usually closed-door American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) GI Specialty Board meeting. Dr. Suzanne Rose, AGA Institute education and training councillor, along with Lori Marks, Ph.D., AGA vice president for education and training, were there to advocate that ABIM reform maintenance of certification (MOC). Although we are viewing the invitation to attend this meeting as a positive step, we wish we had better news to report. It seems that ABIM has no definitive approach to change the high-stakes examination and that their current efforts are focused on maintaining business as usual.

ABIM acknowledged AGA’s call for ending the every-10-year, closed-book exam. ABIM’s own Assessment 2020 report even suggested consideration of alternative assessment strategies. Despite these appeals, and more from the medical community to end the exam, ABIM pointed to their research proving its validity. AGA leadership is both disappointed and frustrated by ABIM’s intransigence on this point. They are clinging to an exam that flies in the face of adult-learning theory and that is not relevant to practice. Closed-book assessments do not represent the current realities of medicine in the digital age.

Please see AGA’s alternate pathway to recertification, The Gastroenterologist: Accountable Professionalism in Practice or G-APP,which fosters active learning. We support the principles of lifelong learning as evidenced by ongoing CME activities, rather than lifelong testing.

We commit to you that we will keep up the pressure and push on multiple fronts for ABIM to reform MOC, and specifically, to end the MOC exam. We will keep you informed as we move forward.