HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Rapid Responses: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hagen, M. D. Articles by Xu, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hagen, M. D. Articles by Xu, J. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) Self Assessment Modules (SAMs): The First Year

Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
American Board of Family Medicine
Department of Family Medicine, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa
Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine
Assessment Technologies, Inc

Correspondence: Corresponding author: Michael D. Hagen, MD, American Board of Family Medicine, 2228 Young Drive, Lexington, KY 40505 (E-mail: mhagen{at}theabfm.org)

Introduction: In 2000, the American Board of Medical Specialties adopted Maintenance of Certification (MOC) to replace intermittent, periodic recertification. MOC consists of 4 components: demonstration of professionalism (part I); commitment to life-long learning (part II); demonstration of cognitive expertise (part III); and evaluation of performance in practice (part IV). The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) implemented Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) in 2004, with its MC-FP part II self-assessment modules (SAMs) as the focus of the first year’s activities.

Methods: The SAMs use materials and resources provided at the ABFM’s website (www.theabfm.org). As of April 2005, 7000 Diplomates had successfully completed SAMs in essential hypertension (N = 2351) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (N = 4648). Participants completed categorical modified Likert scale evaluations to receive continuing education credit, and many offered unstructured free-text comments regarding the clinical simulation component. These free-text comments were entered into the AnSWR qualitative analysis program from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Text coding was performed by 2 authors (MDH, DJI). As no inferential analyses or comparisons were anticipated, the authors conducted no studies of inter-rater consistency. Results are reported as means (SD) and medians for continuous data, and as frequencies for count data.

Results: Likert-scale ratings indicated generally favorable responses (predominantly 5 to 6 on a 6-point scale) to the hypertension and diabetes SAMs. In addition, over half (ie, 55% for hypertension and 54% for diabetes participants) of the respondents indicated that the experience would lead to changes in their practices. Navigation and system operation issues predominated in the free-text comments offered for the diabetes and hypertension simulations.

Conclusion: The MC-FP SAMs received generally favorable ratings in the program’s first year. The SAMs underwent a number of modifications and improvements during the first year, largely in response to feedback and suggestions from ABFM Diplomates.

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati