  Welcome to the newly designed BEAM! Please give us your feedback about the new design and the content by emailing [email protected].
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From the Editor
The 2013 Diagnostic Radiology Core Exam: Addressing Transition Issues
by Thomas W. Berquist, MD, ABR Trustee
In the last issue of The Beam, Dr. Duane Mezwa summarized some of the tools available to assist residents preparing for the new diagnostic radiology Core Examination. Since its inception, the ABR has worked to ensure that the Exam of the Future (EOF) meets the required psychometric standards. Equally important is providing the necessary information and assistance to residents to allow optimal preparation for the EOF.
In years past, the residents were totally focused on the separate physics and written examinations, which were not image rich and primarily tested factual information. What makes the new diagnostic radiology Core Examination so different, and what has the ABR accomplished to help you prepare for the new format? Read more.
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Ask the Director
How Is the ABR Aligning MOC with Your Life?
by Gary J. Becker, MD, ABR Executive Director
 Okay, you never really wanted to participate in MOC. In fact, you never wanted to have to think about the ABR after you passed your certifying exam. But the world has changed, and you find yourself participating. You probably wish that the ABR would just make meeting all the requirements very simple and easy. That way, you'd be able to focus on rendering safe, high-quality care and taking steps to improve your practice performance, all without giving much thought to your certification status. If this is how you feel, you should know that as the ABR Board of Trustees modifies and improves the MOC program, that vision is precisely what is motivating them and bringing about the changes you desire.
Perhaps you practice in a large group. You wish that by simply participating in a department-wide or division-wide practice quality improvement project, you could get your MOC Part IV (PQI) credit as an individual. Done. Now you can easily find on the ABR website the instructions, template, and rules for group PQI projects, as well as the requirements for meaningful participation that enable an individual to earn credit by participating in a group project. Read more. |
ABR Launches New Interactive Site
myABR Replaces the ABR Personal Database (PDB)
The ABR is pleased to announce the release of myABR, a new website for candidates and diplomates. If you have a Personal Database (PDB) account, you will use myABR in the same way - to view your exam results, update your contact information, attest to completion of ABR Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements, and sign up for optional MOC programs such as MOC:PQRS and Focused Practice recognition. Your myABR account also includes many new features, which are described below.
You can access myABR at https://myabr.theabr.org/login, using the same user name (or your ABR ID number) and password for myABR that you currently use to log in to your PDB account.
Read more.
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Focus on Diagnostic Radiology
The "New" MOC Exam. . .Coming Soon
by Kay H. Vydareny, MD, ABR Associate Executive Director, Diagnostic Radiology
Beginning in 2014, there will be several changes to the MOC examination. First, a new selection has been added to the practice-profiled portion of the examination - a general category. This category could be a good choice for candidates who do a "little bit of everything" in their practices.
Because of this addition, the ABR trustees thought that an examination that accommodated the wide variety of practice types that exist could be accomplished in three clinical practice areas, rather than the current four. Therefore, also beginning in 2014, a candidate will choose only three clinical practice areas in which to be examined. Read more.
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Focus on Residents
Myths, Facts, and FAQs about the New ABR Diagnostic Radiology Core Exam
by Duane G. Mezwa, MD, ABR Trustee
The ABR's new diagnostic radiology "Exam of the Future" is almost here! The first administration of the Core Exam - for residents who began their training in 2010 - will be offered in Chicago and Tucson on September 30-October 1, 2013, and again on October 2-3, 2013.
Understandably, residents taking the new exam for the first time are nervous and aren't quite sure what to expect. In this article, we'll try to dispel some "myths" that seem to be floating around in cyberspace and answer some frequently asked questions that we've heard. Please remember that the best source of reliable information is always firsthand. You can find answers to most of your questions, as well as numerous study aids, on the ABR website at www.theabr.org. If you can't find an answer there, please give us a call at 520-790-2900. We want to help you! Read more. |
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Focus on Radiation Oncology
Reflections from Eight Years on the American Board of Radiology
by Bruce G. Haffty, MD, Radiation Oncology Trustee and Immediate Past President, ABR
 My early days with the ABR Approximately eight years ago, I received a call from the late and beloved Steve Leibel, MD, informing me that I had been selected to serve as a radiation oncology trustee of the ABR. I was highly honored that my peers had selected me to serve in such an important organization involved in the certification process for our specialty. Other than my experience in occasionally writing questions for the written examinations and serving as a periodic oral examiner, I knew little about the ABR, its operations, or the substantial evolution it would undergo over the next eight years. Re-organization of the Examination Committees When I first joined the ABR radiation oncology trustees in 2005, an expert trustee in each category essentially oversaw both the written and oral examination process for the initial certification (IC) exam. The trustee was also the primary reviewer for written examination questions that were submitted by a broad group of volunteer radiation oncologists. In addition, the trustee oversaw the assembly of the written exams and compilation of the oral exam, with periodic input from other oral examiners. Read more. |
Focus on Medical Physics
MOC for Medical Physicists, Part 2: Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment
by the ABR Medical Physics Trustees
From left: Richard L. Morin, PhD; Geoffrey S. Ibbott, PhD; and Jerry D. Allison, PhD
The second part of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) focuses on lifelong learning and self-assessment. The major function of this part is continuing education. For physicists, continuing education developed later than it did for physicians. In the 1920s, it was recognized that continuing education was important because knowledge atrophied as one moved farther and farther away from training, and new medical skills needed to be learned. In 1934, urology became the first specialty to make continuing education mandatory. Read more.
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The March 2013 ABRF Summit
The Summit That Survived a 'Blizzard'
by Donna Breckenridge, Communications Director, ABRF
 On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 6, 2013, a small group of people huddled around a table in the board room of a Marriott Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland, working to make a decision. The American Board of Radiology's (ABRF's) Summit on "Safe and Appropriate Medical Imaging: Partnering for a Patient-Centered Approach" was scheduled to start early the next morning and go through noon on Friday. But, as predicted, a mixture of snow and sleet (the weather report called it a blizzard) was significantly affecting travel across the country and had rolled into the D.C. area late the night before.
Luckily, this group of ABRF board members and staff had made it to the hotel before the bad weather started. But what about everyone else? Eighty-five people were scheduled to attend, most coming in later that day or early the next morning, and flights were being cancelled right and left. Even those who had planned to drive were worried about the road conditions. Read more.
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Thank you for reading this issue of The BEAM, and we hope you like our new design! If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please email [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gary J. Becker, MD, Executive Director
American Board of Radiology
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Study Aids for the
Diagnostic Radiology
Core Examination
Several study aids for the diagnostic radiology Core Examination, which will be administered for the first time this fall, are available on the ABR website. Just click the links below:
Further information on the diagnostic radiology Exam of the Future (EOF), including Core Exam Blueprints and EOF FAQs, can be found here.
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The ABR Exam Experience
An overview of what happens on the days leading up to and including the exam day for various ABR examinations can now be found on the ABR website here. Examinees may refer to the appropriate section as they prepare to take an exam. Simply locate your exam and then click on its location, as indicated on the website.
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ABR Elects Two New Trustees
 | | Stephen M. Hahn, MD |
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J. Anthony Seibert, PhD
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The American Board of Radiology (ABR) has elected Stephen M. Hahn, MD, as a trustee for radiation oncology and J. Anthony Seibert, PhD, as a trustee for medical physics, both effective July 1, 2013. Dr. Hahn is chair and Henry K. Pancoast professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Seibert has been a professor of radiology and medical physics at the University of California Davis Medical Center since January 1983 and is currently associate chair of radiology informatics.
Dr. Hahn will replace Bruce G. Haffty, MD, who is completing eight years of service as an ABR trustee, including two years as president-elect and two years as president of the ABR Board of Trustees. Dr. Haffty is professor, chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology, and associate director of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Seibert will replace Richard L. Morin, PhD, who is also concluding eight years on the ABR Board of Trustees, including two 2-year terms as secretary-treasurer. Dr. Morin is Brooks-Hollern professor in the Department of Radiology and professor of radiologic physics at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Read more.
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Volunteer Spotlight
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Stephen Simoneaux, MD
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In this Volunteer Spotlight, we'd like to introduce you to Stephen Simoneaux, MD, a diagnostic radiologist at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University, who has volunteered for the ABR for more than 10 years. During that time, Dr. Simoneaux has been an image asset coordinator for pediatric radiology, an oral examiner, and an item writer for the CAQ (subspecialty) exam and the MOC exam. He has also served on the Category Steering Committee, as chair of the CAQ (Subspecialty) Committee, and on the Written Exam Committee - all in pediatric radiology. Years ago, he was also a proctor for the written exam. Read more.
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In Memoriam
 | | Curtis Lee Sutton, MD |
Curtis Lee Sutton, MD, of West Jefferson Medical Center in New Orleans, passed away on Wednesday, December 12, at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina. He earned his medical degree from the University of North Carolina and was board certified in diagnostic radiology and neuroradiology. Dr. Sutton was 53 years old.
 | | John M. Dennis, MD |
Former ABR trustee
Dr. John Murray Dennis
died on January 17, 2013, of respiratory failure at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Dr. Dennis was a national leader of radiology with the American College of Radiology and the American Board of Radiology. He was former dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where his career spanned nearly half a century. He was 89.
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