I would like to address some of the points made in the article. Recertification today Inconvenience. The Board is sensitive to concerns about inconvenience, particularly for diplomates in smaller communities who must travel to distant examination centers. To maintain security and minimize costs, we use testing centers that will draw large numbers of candidates. The best solution to concerns about inconvenience would be to administer computer-based testing in smaller centers.
Relevance is essential for any recertification program.
Instead of relying on anecdotes from individual internists, however, it is more helpful to review the anonymous responses of diplomates who have completed recertification. This result is not unexpected when you consider that more than 2,000 diplomates helped develop the questions and that an independent panel of practitioners vetted the material for relevance. ABIM data on how internists view recertification The following data come from a survey of 1,760 ABIM diplomates who went through recertification between 1996 and 1999. The ABIM understands that the time required to complete recertification is an important issue for busy internists. Diplomates who have gone through the process reported that they spent an average of 15 hours to complete each SEP module.