MOC Webinar
Join ABR and ASTRO (American Society for Radiation Oncology) for a professional develop-ment webinar on Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Learn the history, logistics and future of MOC firsthand from speakers David Laszakovits, Director of Certification Services at the ABR; Paul E. Wallner, DO, Associate Executive Director for Radiation Oncology at the ABR; and Bruce G. Haffty, MD, President of the ABR Board of Trustees.
View the on-demand RO MOC webinar | |
The ABR Exam of the Future
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10-Year Limit
to Attain Initial Certification
The ABR has developed a policy on initial diag-nostic radiology (DR) and radiation oncology (RO) certification that went into effect in January 2009. Under the policy, candidates must attain initial certification within 10 years following completion of residency training. Read more. | |
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ABR Staff Reorganization |
In June 2010, a staff reorganization began at the ABR's Tucson office. The plan for the reorganization was based on a variety of needs: improving processes, gaining efficiencies, eliminating "single points of failure," enhancing communications and teamwork, and increasing transparency. Read more.
ABR Staff Directory
ABR Staff Photos |
ABR MOC Lapel Pins Distributed | |
The ABR recently distributed its new custom Maintenance of Certification (MOC) lapel pins at the RSNA's 2010 annual meeting. The pins, available at the ABR Booth, were free of charge to all MOC participants. The ABR also distributed the pins at the ASTRO Annual Meeting in early November and will distribute them at other upcoming society meetings. Read more. |
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 We hope you will enjoy reading this issue of The Beam. If you have questions or suggestions about how we can improve our newsletter to better meet your needs, please send an e-mail to abr@theabr.org. If you'd like to share this newsletter with a friend or colleague, click here. |
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From the Editor
Education: What's Needed, and How Do We Deal with the Future? | |
 This issue of The Beam will present reports from radiation oncology and radiologic physics, as well as an excellent article for residents on the ABR's new exams. Dr. Gary Becker, Executive Director of the American Board of Radiology, will focus on the importance of our volunteers as we continue to develop the tools for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) and the Diagnostic Radiology Examinations of the Future (EOF). My focus in this issue is on education and the impact of outside and perhaps inside forces on the trainees of the future. In the face of healthcare reform, we must make new and serious efforts. What have we done, and what do we need to accomplish to protect and enhance our radiology specialties today and going forward? Read more.
Thomas H. Berquist, MD |
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The Value of ABR Volunteers
By Gary J. Becker, MD, ABR executive director
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At the beginning of the holiday season, it seems like a good time to pause and reflect on all the remarkable changes occurring at the ABR. Foremost on my mind are those to whom we all owe our ongoing privilege of professional self-regulation: our many dedicated volunteers. That's right. The work of the Board could not be accomplished without a robust and diverse volunteer infrastructure. Currently, the ABR enjoys the dedicated volunteer service of more than 460 diplomates serving as committee members in addition to a pool of approximately 659 active oral examiners. Read more. |
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The New ABR Exams: Rationale, Structure, Timing, and Content |
By Dennis M. Balfe, MD, ABR Trustee and Chair, Initial
Certification Coordinating Committee
 At their 2007 winter meeting, the trustees of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) agreed to begin implementing a plan to replace the written and oral examinations currently used in the primary certification of diagnostic radiologists. The first residency group to be affected by this decision began radiology training in July 2010; the purpose of this article is to communicate the details of the new examination structure to that group and to those responsible for their education. Read more. |
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ABR Subspecialty Certification in Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
By Paul E. Wallner, DO, ABR Associate Executive Director
for Radiation Oncology
 Thanks to significant advances in the early diagnosis and management of cancer over the past several decades, patients are generally living longer but may still develop loco-regional disease recurrence or metastases, with a need for palliative and/or terminal care. Often that care may be delivered by teams of multidisciplinary specialists, working together to meet the physical, spiritual, legal, ethical, and emotional needs of patients, as well as their support systems and the caregivers themselves. The first Hospice and Palliative Medicine subspecialty certification examination was offered in 2008. Read more.
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| The New Eligibility Requirements for ABR Certification in Radiologic Physics: An Overview | |
By Stephen R. Thomas, PhD, ABR Associate Executive
Director for Radiologic Physics
 In 2002, the ABR announced a policy whereby a prerequisite for certification in radiologic physics after 2012 would be completion of an educational program in medical physics accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP). A principal factor leading to the 2002 policy statement was concern among the ABR radiologic physics trustees and exam committee chairs regarding the level of knowledge
of candidates applying for certification who came from nonstructured medical physics graduate programs. Another point coming to the forefront more recently was the fact that the ABR certification process for radiologic physics did not require a formal residency prior to certification, whereas all except one of the other 24 medical boards of the ABMS require a residency. Read more. |
| A Diplomate's Reflections on the ABR Audit Process | |
By David M. Johnson, MD, ABR Diplomate and Associate
Professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery, Univ. of Vermont
 As a practicing radiologist, I receive a lot of mail that frequently remains unopened, landing in either the trash or in the open-and-pay-at-a-later-date pile. I was sorting through a rather large pay-later pile when I came across several envelopes from the American Board of Radiology. Imagine my surprise when I discovered not the usual bill to keep current with Maintenance of Certification [MOC], but rather a notice informing me I was being audited. I had been randomly selected for an audit of my personal database [PDB] and my progress in the MOC process. I needed to document my licensure, lifelong learning, and, of course, my PQI project. I felt like I like I was being probed by the IRS. Read more.
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Radiologists Call for National Strategy to Address Medical Imaging Overuse
By William R. Hendee, PhD
Chairman, American Board of Radiology Foundation
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 Overutilization of medical imaging services exposes patients to unnecessary radiation and adds to healthcare costs, according to a report appearing online and in the October issue of the journal Radiology that calls on radiologists to spearhead a collaborative effort to curb imaging overutilization. The article's lead author is William R. Hendee, PhD, chairman of the American Board of Radiology Foundation (ABRF) and distinguished professor of radiology, radiation oncology, biophysics and bioethics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Read more.
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ABR Dedicates Time Capsule
By Duane G. Mezwa, MD, ABR Trustee, Diagnostic Radiology
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From left: Drs. Mezwa, Haffty, and Becker display items of historical significance
that were later placed in the time capsule.
At its October fall retreat in Tucson, the ABR trustees dedicated a time capsule, which contains items of historic significance to the organization. Over the past year, trustees, office personnel, and radiology leaders collected items that would capture the history and importance of the Board in its 75-year existence. The time capsule will be opened during the celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the ABR in 2034. Read more. |
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Personal Database (PDB) Offers Automatic CME Gateway & ASTRO Gateway Credits |
 As a diplomate enrolled in the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process, you're already using your personal database (PDB), which is your key resource for staying in routine contact with the ABR about your MOC participation and progress. But are you taking advantage of the CME Gateway and/or the ASTRO Gateway? These are helpful tools for documenting lifelong learning activities, such as continuing medical education (CME) and self-assessment modules (SAMs). Read more. For special instructions on using the ASTRO gateway, click here.
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Thank you for reading this issue of The Beam. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please email abr@theabr.org.
Sincerely,
Gary J. Becker, M.D., Executive Director
American Board of Radiology |
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