Board certification and maintenance of certification

Published on 07/02/2015 by admin

Filed under Anesthesiology

Last modified 07/02/2015

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Board certification and maintenance of certification

Timothy R. Long, MD and Steven H. Rose, MD

Although participation in the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) certification process is voluntary, achieving and maintaining certification are increasingly important to secure and maintain medical licensure and hospital privileges. Board certification (and maintenance of certification) may also be a requirement for membership in a private group practice or academic anesthesiology department. Achieving certification at the first opportunity and maintaining certification are thus important goals for anesthesiologists.

Primary certification

The ABA, a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), has established threshold criteria and the training and education requirements, as well as the knowledge and skills, that anesthesiologists must have so that the ABA can certify (and recertify) an anesthesiologist as meeting these criteria. Certification by an ABMS-member board, such as the ABA, has been shown to correlate with medical school evaluations and grades, the duration and type of residency training, and faculty assessment of procedural skills. Interestingly, personal characteristics such as trait-anxiety (the tendency to respond to a wide range of situations as dangerous or threatening) and the ability to maintain focused attention (vigilance) and process information quickly are also associated with clinical competence, but certification by an ABMS-member board is more widely and readily accepted by the public.

Because the knowledge and skill sets that a physician has decline over time, and because of the continuing advances in technology and science, ABMS-member boards are increasingly recertifying physicians. The results of these recertification processes correlate positively with the number of patients anesthetized and with the severity of illness that these patients have; certification correlates with better clinical outcomes.

Physicians who successfully complete the requirements for residency training (the Continuum of Education) in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited anesthesiology residency program may qualify to enter the examination process for primary certification by the ABA if they meet the threshold requirements for primary certification in anesthesiology (Box 248-1).

Box 248-1 Threshold Requirements for Primary Certification in Anesthesiology

A permanent, unconditional, and unrestricted, unexpired medical license to practice medicine or osteopathy in one or more states or jurisdictions of the United States or province of Canada

Completion of the requirements of the Continuum of Education in anesthesiology

An ABA Certificate of Clinical Competence with an overall satisfactory rating covering the final 6-month period of clinical anesthesia training in each anesthesiology residency program on file with the ABA

Documentation of professional standing that is satisfactory to the ABA

Capability to perform independently the entire scope of anesthesiology practice without restriction, or with reasonable accommodation

Successful completion of a written (Part 1) and an oral (Part 2) examination. Although many decry the oral examination process, there is evidence that the examination system established by the ABA many years ago also correlates with clinical competence.

ABA, American Board of Anesthesiology.

The duration of candidate status to be eligible for the Part 1 examination is limited to one opportunity per calendar year for 3 years. Candidates completing residency training after January 1, 2012, must complete all certification requirements within 7 years of the last day of the year in which residency training was completed. All candidates must complete the Part 2 examination within 3 years of the date of the first Part 2 examination for which they become eligible.

Trainees beginning the clinical base year (CBY) in 2012 or later will be required to complete three stages of ABA examinations. The first stage (Basic examination) is administered following successful completion of the first clinical anesthesia (CA) year. The second stage (Advanced examination) is administered following successful completion of residency training. The oral examination (Applied examination) may be taken following successful completion of both Basic and Advanced written examinations.

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