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That’s some hefty inflation.
MOCA cost
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Just paid it yesterday. Ridiculous. And I paid 450 because im anesthesia+pain.
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Could be worse. Those of us boarded in 2004/2005 got the worst of it.
Had to take the re certification exam for $2100
Those who were boarded in 2000-2003 if they were smart and took the re certification exam before 2010 (u had option to take recertification exam in year 7 of ur 10 year cycle) so those boarded in 2000 could have taken it in 2007
Those who took it before 2010 got to eliminate 50 questions of out of 250 questions. Essentially gurantee a 99% aba passing rate
But aba changed it for 2011 and started scoring all 250 question
U youngsters do not even know this little maneuver by the ABA. They noticed the passing rate dropped dramatically to 88% passing rate by 2014.
So ABA made the drastic change in 2015 switching to Moca minutes. Due to the attendings not studying for the recertification exam.
So those boarded in 2006 and newer never had to take the ABA recertification exam
Only those boarded in 2004/2005 had to take the fully graded 250 question exams
Those boarded in 2001-2003 when didn’t take the board exam by 2010 also had to take the fully graded 250 question exam
Just a little tidbit for those complaining about a mere $350 annual fee plus subspeciality $100 fee
I’m sure most would gladly pay the $350/450 annual fee than study for a 250 question exam and waste 4-5 hrs at a testing center on a Saturday.
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Although $350 x 10 years is $3500 as opposed to the lower $$ for the 10 year recertification exam.
The extra $100 is a bargain compared to the double charge if you have a certificate sponsored by ABA but administered by a different board (there are several). They charge you the $100 plus $150 pass through charge from the administering board (so $600 per year). The ABA still adds their $100 for doing nothing plus your MOC requirements are doubled because the other board still has their own processes with 120 questions per year, whereas, an ABA administered subspecialty is factored into the MOC questions so they are combined for 120 TOTAL per year (not 240 per year or $6000 total for a ten year period).
They shortened the intervals to five years to make it even more laborious.
The extra $100 is a bargain compared to the double charge if you have a certificate sponsored by ABA but administered by a different board (there are several). They charge you the $100 plus $150 pass through charge from the administering board (so $600 per year). The ABA still adds their $100 for doing nothing plus your MOC requirements are doubled because the other board still has their own processes with 120 questions per year, whereas, an ABA administered subspecialty is factored into the MOC questions so they are combined for 120 TOTAL per year (not 240 per year or $6000 total for a ten year period).
They shortened the intervals to five years to make it even more laborious.
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The 5 year cycle pisses me off more.
Those whose certificate expired 2022 and now renewed to 2032.
Yet those those certificate expired 2023. Gotta renew 2028. Does that make sense to you guys?
It’s dumb crap like this. My certificate expired 2025. Renews to 2030. I wasn’t planning to renew it because I thought the next 10 year cycle puts me at 2035. I’d be long gone from clinical practice by 2035.
But 2030 puts me right at age 56. My grey zone of retirement/part time work. Completely F’d up my vision/plans.
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I am seriously considering not even maintaining certification. Do the hospitals/centers even care? I dropped being an ASA member long ago for some of the same stupid crap.
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They had to change away from the exam if they were going to be failing 12% of the previously board certified anesthesiologists. If that continued, there would’ve been an uprising that no one would be participating. When you see perfectly competent colleagues with maybe decades of experience failing you know that something is not right. I think the MOCA Minute is stupid as well for the record. If they made you do questions regarding new information or studies that came out that non-academic people probably aren’t reading, or stuff out of specialty societies that would actually be helpful. But then you couldn’t grade it and you couldn’t get your 98 percent pass rate.
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and I disagree with this bs Moca question this q1 2026 quarter
“Which of the following factors MOST significantly impacts compensation for anesthesiologists?”
The choices were
1. Academic rank
2. Gender
3. Years in practice
We know what the answer should be in real life (it’s academic rank) so more senior faculty members do get paid more. It’s so obvious by checking public state compensation records
But nope. The ABA must still be operating under the DEI days and said gender bias
Because the two women anesthesiologists I know where I do locums at who are on salary are the highest paid anesthesiologists and it’s the old 60 year old white guys who are getting paid 200k less than the women.
Gender does not matter in anesthesia anymore. And the ABA still has its head stuck in the sand.
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Everyone knows that cpt codes and units reimburse differently if you’re male or female. This has been the case since Medicare started 😂
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Ha ha. Definitely. More by choice. But I turned down work Friday. Just to drive the carpool for the 8th grade girls to school and back.
Would have been cheaper for me to send the girls on an uber to school and pick them up.
But honestly we need to anesthesia is one of the specialities where women can work even part time and pro rated by hourly pay. They still make the same as men
The ABA Moca question for 2026 is so reverse of things. It’s literally Misandry.
