Division of Thoracic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida.
Ann Thorac Surg. 2019 Dec;108(6):1895-1900. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2019.05.074. Epub 2019 Jul 20.
Previous "high-stakes" examinations by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) required remote testing, were noneducational, and were not tailored to individual practices. Given the ABTS mission of public safety and diplomate education, the ABTS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) examination was revised in 2015 to improve the educational experience and validate knowledge acquired.
The ABTS-MOC Committee developed a web-based, secure examination tailored to the specialty-specific practice profile (cardiac, general thoracic, cardiothoracic, congenital) of the individual surgeon. After an initial answer to each question, an educational critique was reviewed before returning to the initial question and logging a second (final) response. Intraexam learning was assessed by comparing scores before and after reading the critique. Diplomate feedback was obtained.
A total of 988 diplomates completed the 10-year MOC examination between 2015 and 2017. Substantive learning was demonstrated with an 18%, 17%, 20%, and 9% improvement in cardiac, general thoracic, cardiothoracic, and congenital final scores, respectively. This improvement was most notable among diplomates with the lowest initial scores. Fewer diplomates failed the new exam (<1% vs 2.3%). Diplomate postexam survey highlighted marked improvements in clinical relevance (35% vs 78%), convenience (37% vs 78%), and learning (15% vs 45%). Over 80% acknowledged educational value, and 97% preferred the new format.
The new MOC process demonstrates increased knowledge acquisition through a convenient, secure, web-based practice-focused examination. This approach provides feedback, identifies baseline knowledge gaps for individual diplomates, and validates new knowledge attained.
美国胸外科委员会（ABTS）之前的“高风险”考试需要远程测试，不具有教育意义，也不针对个人实践进行调整。鉴于 ABTS 的公共安全和理事教育使命，ABTS 维持认证（MOC）考试于 2015 年进行了修订，以提高教育体验并验证所获得的知识。
ABTS-MOC 委员会开发了一种基于网络的、安全的考试，针对每位外科医生的专业特定实践情况（心脏、普通胸外科、心胸外科、先天性）进行定制。在回答每个问题的初始答案后，先审查教育评论，然后再回到初始问题并记录第二个（最终）答案。通过比较阅读评论前后的分数来评估考试内的学习情况。还获得了理事的反馈。
共有 988 名理事在 2015 年至 2017 年期间完成了 10 年的 MOC 考试。在心脏、普通胸外科、心胸外科和先天性的最终分数中，分别有 18%、17%、20%和 9%的实质性提高，证明了实质性的学习。这种提高在初始分数最低的理事中最为显著。新考试不及格的理事人数较少（<1%对 2.3%）。理事考试后调查突出显示了临床相关性（35%对 78%）、便利性（37%对 78%）和学习（15%对 45%）的显著提高。超过 80%的人承认了教育价值，97%的人更喜欢新格式。
新的 MOC 流程通过方便、安全的基于网络的注重实践的考试展示了知识的获取增加。这种方法提供反馈，确定个人理事的基准知识差距，并验证新获得的知识。
