New ABFAS Recertification Process

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Scrantonicity

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  1. Attending Physician
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Just curious about anyone's thoughts about this new process. Apparently starting in 2022, they are doing away with the every 10 yr recerts, and we will be taking a test/quiz every quarter? Not sure how I feel about this. I can only hope that we get to pay them to take this "quiz" every quarter...that would be great lol. Anyways, apparently there has been a pilot program of this since 2018. Anyone here part of it? I'd like to hear how it's being implemented.
 
I voted against it last year when they had the vote because I didnt know what to expect. I have not received any information from ABFAS about it. This is the first I've seen that it passed.

If its better Im all for it.

Im skeptical because in my experience when there are changes to medicine things almost always get worse. How many times have we heard "improved and new changes that are going to be so great doctor!" to only be burned with more paperwork, more boxes to check, and more work? It happens any and everytime people change anything.

We recently went from a not great but functioning EHR to an absolutately terrible EHR. We were promised it would cut documentation time in half and save the company tons of money. Well... It doubles the documentation time and costs us double to run. Dumb system that was touted to be the latest and greatest best thing.

Im skeptical. I also dont want to take an exam every 3 months. That sounds like busy work to me. I prefer to get it out of the way once every 10 years.
 
Is this like every other improvement - where people of x amount of years are grandfathered out of the requirement?
 
DYK343 said:
Im skeptical. I also dont want to take an exam every 3 months. That sounds like busy work to me. I prefer to get it out of the way once every 10 years.
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But then how can all the people who sell education to DPMs (ACFAS, Present, etc) make more money if you're only using them every 10 years?
 
Resurrecting this thread since it is now upon us. Do we have any eager people that have already done their 30 questions for this quarter? I'm just curious how it is. I don't plan to study for it.

I like how this new LEADS program is "free" with our yearly dues--and then they raise our yearly dues by $90 a year...so yeah, it's still a $900 test every 10 years. Very smooth haha.

Anyways, please chime in if you've tried it (or have any other thoughts about this thing).
 
Can someone please explain the quarter system?
 
PTPuser said:
Can someone please explain the quarter system?
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Basically, you need to answer 30 questions in a quarter...and apparently you can do it anytime, anywhere, on any device. I plan on doing maybe 8-10 a month? Depending on when you certified, they have a little tool on the website that shows how many quarters you need to participate in--my board certification expires in 2028, so it says I have to complete 3 quarters by 6/30/23...and then 12 quarters by 6/30/28. I'm not sure why they broke it down like that.

So I guess the good news is you don't have to do EVERY quarter every year...just 15 or so out of 40 quarters that make up 10 years...
 
Scrantonicity said:
Basically, you need to answer 30 questions in a quarter...and apparently you can do it anytime, anywhere, on any device. I plan on doing maybe 8-10 a month? Depending on when you certified, they have a little tool on the website that shows how many quarters you need to participate in--my board certification expires in 2028, so it says I have to complete 3 quarters by 6/30/23...and then 12 quarters by 6/30/28. I'm not sure why they broke it down like that.

So I guess the good news is you don't have to do EVERY quarter every year...just 15 or so out of 40 quarters that make up 10 years...
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Just one more thing I have to remember to do.
 
do you guys know if you can do a few questions in one sitting and then come back to do the other questions at another time? or does it have to be done in all 1 sitting?

also does anyone understand the grading system? I was a bit confusing that they said it wasn't a pass or fail system.
 
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dddunit said:
do you guys know if i do a few questions in one sitting and then come back to do the other questions at another time?

also does anyone understand the grading system? I was a bit confusing that they said it wasn't a pass or fail system.
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Yes you can do questions at any time. Its starts and stops after every q with a 3 minute timer to answer. Cant highlight the question stem to then ask Google while answering.

You are graded relative to your performance curve. They set a standard they expect you to get.
 
Scrantonicity said:
Resurrecting this thread since it is now upon us. Do we have any eager people that have already done their 30 questions for this quarter? I'm just curious how it is. I don't plan to study for it.

I like how this new LEADS program is "free" with our yearly dues--and then they raise our yearly dues by $90 a year...so yeah, it's still a $900 test every 10 years. Very smooth haha.

Anyways, please chime in if you've tried it (or have any other thoughts about this thing).
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you are wrongly assuming that our dues will not increase over that 10 year span
 
air bud said:
you are wrongly assuming that our dues will not increase over that 10 year span
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Haha true, a momentary lapse in judgement where I forgot who these people are...
GreenHousePub said:
The 30 questions were pretty simple for me. The entire quiz took me about 15 minutes to complete. I like this way better than a high stakes exam every 10 years.
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Good to know! I finished the tutorial but I was too chicken to click on the questions just yet. Guess I'll do a few next time I get a chance...
 
GreenHousePub said:
The 30 questions were pretty simple for me. The entire quiz took me about 15 minutes to complete. I like this way better than a high stakes exam every 10 years.
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Bah! You are parroting back the way ABPM and ABFAS sell us the "give your money now, not later" pitch. :nod:

Haha, in all fairness, I think the CME/MOC/LEAD way is better also. It helps increase the likelihood the doc stays cert, proves they are doing a bit of study and testing with documentation, and the board keeps getting their annual fees from the doc also. It is a win all around. I doubt there was a very high fail rate on the past 10yr re-certs (weren't some of the older F&A cert doc ones even open book "self assessment"?), but this is probably a better way since it has documentation.

At the end of the day, you can basically count on whatever AAOS and other ABMS does in terms of testing/cert, ours will mimic within a few years. Probably a good thang 🙂
 
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I just did the 30 questions for this quarter. Pretty easy, even though I made a couple dumb errors. Honestly it doesn't seem like it'll be a big deal to do this 23 more times in the next 10 years.
 
My recommendation to everyone is not to overthink this new process and not to be overly concerned.

It’s very well thought and and well done. I signed on after dinner, started and finished the exam in 18 minutes and did all 30 questions (you don’t have to do all 30 in one sitting). It was very fair and not ״tricky”.

I think this is one time you can be optimistic and it’s a positive not a negative.
 
i just took the test

I think I do like the test vs. an in-person large/high stress test, but I do wish they reduced the overall number of tests...perhaps 1/year.

I hope over time a couple of things can be improved upon:
1) no time limit per question...if it is truly for self-learning
2) decrease in questions that are subjective and often there are multiple approaches. A handful of questions only have one reference and are debatable if that is the only correct answer. Questions should be more fact based questions that tests knowledge of the subject rather than clinical scenarios that you have to guess what the author thinks is the best treatment.
3) higher definition x-rays/mri (lots of images are blurry)
4) clarification on scoring and mdt-value. This remains vague. Unclear what is needed to re-certify or if this is based purely on participation.
5) less use of double negatives in question stem
 
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air bud said:
Sounds like you are in the circle of trust.... And not to be trusted.
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robertdeniromeettheparents1.jpg
 
I thought it was rather straight forward. Easy to make silly mistakes, but common information/cases. Images have room for improvement, but are barely needed to come o an answer.

I would much rather take 15 mins every quarter than take a high stakes exam.

Minimal MDT to pass is highly achievable.
 
PeaJay said:
I would much rather take 15 mins every quarter than take a high stakes exam.
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A 15 minute exam... With access to google....don't tell me you remembered those silly bone tumors.
 
HardRoadPaved said:
A 15 minute exam... With access to google....don't tell me you remembered those silly bone tumors.
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Definitely in the 15 min ball park. I had to subtract time for tending to kids between questions.

Being a nerd is my superpower.
 
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ExperiencedDPM said:
That’s a pretty insulting and arrogant comment. If I was involved with the process, I’d make it very clear.

I was simply attempting to let those who are concerned realize that the process is not something that should cause unnecessary stress or concern.

Instead of spending thousands of bucks to sit in some sterile testing center, you can simply take any portion in your own home at any time.

Never, ever challenge my integrity.
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It was a joke....saying that this is the one time to be optimistic...very well thought out....its ABFAS come on...And we are podiatrists, unnecessary concern and stress is built into our DNA. Well, inserted via the podiatry experience.
 
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air bud said:
It was a joke....saying that this is the one time to be optimistic...very well thought out....its ABFAS come on...And we are podiatrists, unnecessary concern and stress is built into our DNA. Well, inserted via the podiatry experience.
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Molded and beaten into us even as prospective prepods browsing the forums....
 
I was worried that it would be time consuming, but the first 30 questions didn't take that much time, I can do this every quarter. Agreed one of the x ray questions had poor image quality.
 
I did the first module in under 30 minutes, going in cold without any review. At the beginning of each question came a pop-up window that said "WARNING. You have three minutes blah blah blah..." It took me about ten questions or so to ignore the pop-up and not feel panicked. Three minutes per question is adequate. I did well enough on the test that I'm going to ask for a raise.
 
NatCh said:
I did well enough on the test that I'm going to ask for a raise.
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Welp, I didn't get a raise. My a-hole boss told me I was expendable and should shut up and get back to work. 😢
 
Did the 30 questions in my hotel room at ACFAS, with my iPad and Southpark marathon on the TV. Got a few wrong, just cause the wording can be tricky...also I didn't review bone tumors at all. Overall, I was satisfied with my performance though, and I feel like I learned more taking the test than I did at ACFAS...
 
Horrible. I sent them an e-mail challenging every answer on the "test". Yep, I need to read one article published 7 years ago to know the answer to some of the questions. Makes perfect sense. And sure, much better to know the textbook answer than the real world answer. This "test" in no way proves "clinical competency". If anything, it shows just how disconnected our Boards are with the reality of actual clinical practice today. Nothing has changed in the ABFAS since I was coming up. Atrocious.
 
Scrantonicity said:
Did the 30 questions in my hotel room at ACFAS, with my iPad and Southpark marathon on the TV. Got a few wrong, just cause the wording can be tricky...also I didn't review bone tumors at all. Overall, I was satisfied with my performance though, and I feel like I learned more taking the test than I did at ACFAS...
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I'm curious. Do you think it's clinically relevant to be able to identify non-cancerous tumors in a bone? By name? Isn't that what the radiologist is supposed to do? Certainly it's important to be able to identify if a bone tumor is invasive, etc, but clinically speaking, a benign bone tumor of any kind in the calcaneus will be treated the same way, no? Especially if symptomatic, right?

This is precisely the problem I have with this. After 20 years in practice, how does it show my "clinical competency" that it is a unicameral bone cyst vs. an adipose tumor? Especially with the horrible resolution of the pics included in the "test"? Show me a nice multilobulated tumor if you want me to see it. Not some blurry image, that could or could not be more than one lobule with a very distinct looking focal area, that is precisely what a unicameral bone cyst looks like. You know how many of those I've seen in 20 years. TWO.

Does anyone else have a problem with this being done every quarter? I mean, I have a good 15-20 years left of practice. I have to do four of these a year for the next 15 years???? Seriously???
 
NobodyDPM said:
I'm curious. Do you think it's clinically relevant to be able to identify non-cancerous tumors in a bone? By name? Isn't that what the radiologist is supposed to do? Certainly it's important to be able to identify if a bone tumor is invasive, etc, but clinically speaking, a benign bone tumor of any kind in the calcaneus will be treated the same way, no? Especially if symptomatic, right?

This is precisely the problem I have with this. After 20 years in practice, how does it show my "clinical competency" that it is a unicameral bone cyst vs. an adipose tumor? Especially with the horrible resolution of the pics included in the "test"? Show me a nice multilobulated tumor if you want me to see it. Not some blurry image, that could or could not be more than one lobule with a very distinct looking focal area, that is precisely what a unicameral bone cyst looks like. You know how many of those I've seen in 20 years. TWO.

Does anyone else have a problem with this being done every quarter? I mean, I have a good 15-20 years left of practice. I have to do four of these a year for the next 15 years???? Seriously???
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Do you want to do this for another 20 years? I'm only 5 years out and I don't want to do another 20 years
 
air bud said:
Do you want to do this for another 20 years? I'm only 5 years out and I don't want to do another 20 years
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Ask me again after my kids are out of college. I might just retire and work at Walmart or something.
 
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