American Board Of Psychiatry And Neurology Research Articles

The ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program for Psychiatrists: Past History, Current Status, and Future Directions

To describe the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) Maintenance of Certification Program, its underlying rationale, how it will be implemented now, and what it might look like in the future. The authors describe the philosophical foundation, specific components, and the implementation timeline of the ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program; the development of specific products that might be used by ABPN diplomates to meet its requirements; and several unanswered questions about its current status and future development. The ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program consists of specific requirements pertaining to professional standing, self-assessment and lifelong learning, performance in practice, and cognitive expertise that will be implemented incrementally over the next decade. The ABPN Maintenance of Certification Program has been implemented in a manner that is as consistent as possible with its underlying philosophical beliefs as well as the current and expected public and political concerns, diplomate needs, and the requirements of organizations responsible for licensure, credentialing, privileging, accreditation, professional development, and physician reimbursement.

Opinion/Education: The ABPN is the neurology resident’s best friend

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) is in the midst of major changes in the way in which candidates are credentialed and evaluated for board certification. These changes will have a major impact on current residents-in-training. Such changes are largely driven by the desire of the ABPN to provide a certification process that is framed in fairness, validity, and reliability, and at the same time respects the problems inherent in psychologically and financially stressful oral examinations. It is essential that communication and dialogue among the ABPN, the program directors, and the residents remain a priority. The following discussion summarizes ongoing changes with regard to ABPN certification and attempts to articulate why these changes are good for the field and may be viewed with particular enthusiasm by residents-in-training. Dr. Larry Faulkner has assumed the role of Executive Vice-President of the ABPN. The ABPN is comprised of eight psychiatrists (the Psychiatry Council) and eight neurologists (the Neurology Council). Dr. Faulkner served for 8 years as a Director in Psychiatry for the ABPN, and during that time he developed close ties with the Neurology Counsel. Prior to assuming the leadership position with the ABPN, he was Dean of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, and he is familiar with most aspects of academic medicine, including those related to residency training. Dr. Faulkner brings to the APBN energy, insight, and an understanding of a great deal of practical organization. Dr. Michael Johnston is the 2007 Chair of the Neurology Council of the ABPN. He is in the final year of an 8-year term serving as a Neurology Director of the ABPN. Filling out the ranks of neurologists in order of seniority as Directors on the Board are Patricia Coyle (who becomes Chair in 2008), Bob Pascuzzi, Steven DeKosky, Michael Aminoff, …

Preparation for the Certification: A Critique of Neurology Oral Board Examination Review Books

Preparation for the Certification: A Critique of Neurology Oral Board Examination Review Books Neurology Oral Boards Review, 1st edition by Eroboghene E. Ubogu , 298 pp., Humana Press, 2005, $59.00 Neurology Study Guide: Oral Board Examination, 1st edition by Teresella Gondolo , 244 pp., Springer, 2005, $49.95 Neurology Clinical Case Studies: Oral Board Exam Review, 1st edition by Morris Levin and colleagues , 253 pp., Anadem Publishers, 2003, $89.00 A plethora of horror stories have been promulgated concerning the neurology oral board examination. This rite of passage though will soon be eliminated for current residents due to recent changes by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). However, until these revisions are enacted, neurologists in training are still faced with the daunting task of preparing for this examination. Within the past few years review books with slightly different approaches have been published that particularly focus on the oral section of …

Vascular Neurology: A New Neurologic Subspecialty in the United States

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) has established a certification process for the subspecialty of vascular neurology. In addition, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has approved residencies (fellowships) in vascular neurology in the United States. These steps are in response to the growth of a special body of knowledge related to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cerebrovascular disease. The certificate in vascular neurology recognizes those ABPN-certified neurologists or child neurologists who have demonstrated proficiency in the management of patients with vascular diseases of the central nervous system. This may have implications for similar initiatives in other countries

Clinical Neurophysiology: EEG–Video Monitoring

Clinical Neurophysiology: EEG–Video Monitoring

Certification in Vascular Neurology

In 2003, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) received approval from the American Board of Medical Specialties to issue subspecialty certificates in vascular neurology. Recognition was requested by the American Academy of Neurology. The new certificate acknowledges those ABPN-certified neurologists and child neurologists who have developed special expertise in the field of vascular neurology. The new subspecialty reflects the growth of cerebrovascular disease as an independent area of medical expertise and the related development of professional organizations such as the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association and the Stroke Section of the American Academy of Neurology. It also denotes the high level of scholarship in the area of vascular diseases of the central nervous system, as evidenced by the success of numerous journals such as Stroke , that focus on experimental, epidemiological, translational, and clinical research in this field. Simultaneously, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) endorsed postgraduate (fellowship) training in vascular neurology, which will be discussed in a separate report in Stroke. After the 2009 examination, only those neurologists who have successfully completed an ACGME-accredited program in vascular neurology will be eligible to become certified in this subspecialty. In the interim, applications will be accepted from those ABPN-certified neurologists or child neurologists who have had training in a non-ACGME accredited stroke fellowship or who devote at least 25% of their practice time to the diagnosis and treatment of persons with stroke. Information about the requirements and the application process is found at the ABPN website (www.abpn.com). The new certificates are valid for a 10-year period, which means that to retain certification status, certified physicians will periodically have to complete an ABPN maintenance of certification process including taking another examination. The ABPN appointed a 12-member committee to develop the content outline for the examination, to …

Proposed Geriatric Psychiatry Core Competencies for Subspecialty Training

The authors present and discuss the theoretical and practical development of proposed core competencies for subspecialty training and certification in geriatric psychiatry as required by the Accreditation Council For Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Changes were derived from a concern that graduate medical education programs must do a better job of ensuring that residents completing their training are competent to practice medicine and adequately prepared to practice in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Between July 2006 and June 2011, programs will be expected to focus on data-driven measures, both internal and national, for resident and education-program performance. After July 2011, programs will begin to focus on identifying and developing educational centers of excellence.

Assessment of Psychopharmacology on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Examinations

To report the assessment of psychopharmacology on the certification and recertification exams in general psychiatry and in the subspecialties administered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). The ABPN's core competencies for psychiatrists were reviewed. The number of items addressing psychopharmacology or neuropharmacology was determined for each examination. For the multiple-choice certification exams, item performance was reviewed. The grade cards of failing candidates were reviewed for the oral certification exam. A significant number of the core competencies involved psychopharmacology. The percent of items addressing the topic varied by examination but was substantial in general. Performance on these items on the multiple-choice certification exam was similar to performance in other areas. However, a majority of those who failed the patient section of the oral examination had inadequate performance in the area of drug treatment, indicating that trainees may need additional experience with applying psychopharmacological knowledge in the context of patient cases. This review indicated that knowledge of psychopharmacology was a significant component of the ABPN's core competencies and of its certification and recertification exams.

Teaching Medication Compliance to Psychiatric Residents: Placing an Orphan Topic Into a Training Curriculum

Medication compliance is an orphan topic. Training in the understanding and management of noncompliance does not neatly fall within the domain of psychopharmacology, nor does it clearly fit into other core curricula areas, such as clinical interviewing or psychotherapy training. The objective of this article is to increase awareness about this vagueness among academic psychiatrists and to offer a suggested curriculum to facilitate implementation. The authors present a curriculum covering major aspects of the theory and practice of compliance. The proposed curriculum is divided into five core components that can be used together or separately. These components are: 1) definition of compliance and noncompliance; 2) understanding how compliance depends on efficacy; 3) assessment of compliance and noncompliance; 4) the importance of the therapeutic alliance; and 5) pharmacological and psychosocial strategies to improve compliance. These five sections can be modified into specific lectures that are added to ongoing psychopharmacology, psychiatric interviewing, or psychotherapy courses. A careful review of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) core curriculum found no mention of medication compliance/adherence as a specific training goal, and our residency program, like many others, did not have a specific course that focused on this issue. To address this omission, the authors designed and taught a five-session course for PGY-III and PGY-IV psychiatry residents that specifically addressed assessment and management of noncompliance. It was piloted in the 2003-2004 academic year. The course was very well received and formed the basis of this material presented in this review and discussion. The principles of understanding, assessing, and managing medication compliance should be a part of the core curriculum for every psychiatric residency training program.

Time for Recertification? APA Helps You Prepare

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Education & TrainingFull AccessTime for Recertification? APA Helps You PrepareMark MoranMark MoranSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:18 Mar 2005https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.40.6.00400025Do you need to recertify? You do—every 10 years—if you are a general psychiatrist originally board certified in 1994 or later and you want to maintain your board certification.This year the second class of general psychiatrists to receive their original board certification after the 1994 cutoff will be required to take a closed-book, proctored exam on a computer administered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) to maintain certification.The ABPN does not require general psychiatrists certified prior to 1994 to take the exam to maintain their certification.There are no lifetime certificates for geriatric, forensic, and addiction psychiatry. Time-limited certifications in geriatric psychiatry began in 1991, with the first expirations occurring in 2001; in addiction psychiatry they began in 1993, with the first expirations occurring in 2003.Deborah Hales, M.D., APA's director of Education and Career Development, said the move to require recertification is part of an effort across American medicine to demonstrate the quality and competence of the nation's physicians to policymakers, regulatory agencies, and the public.“Failing to recertify in the modern era is likely to be professional suicide,” Hales warned. “The entire house of medicine is requiring this as a way to gain back public trust.”She said that even psychiatrists who were certified prior to 1994 are not immune from the movement toward “maintenance of certification” since many state boards of medicine may require physicians who do not recertify in their specialty to take a state medical board exam to maintain their licensure.“This is coming,” Hales said. And, she noted, APA is committed to helping psychiatrists prepare for and pass the exam.In addition to its world-renowned annual meeting, the Association is offering a variety of tools—many of them easily accessible through APA's Web site—to help prepare for recertification. These include “Grand Rounds Online,” Focus: A Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry, and APA's practice guidelines.The 11 practice guidelines published to date represent state-of-the-art understanding about the optimal ways to treat patients with a variety of conditions commonly seen by psychiatrists. Members can access the guidelines online free and earn 3 to 5 CME credits by taking the multiplechoice test that accompanies each. There are also references for additional information on each of the guideline topics.Members already familiar with Focus know it to be a clinical review journal that appears quarterly, with an annual self-assessment examination on the material, also appearing online, at the end of the year. One of the best tools for staying current in psychiatry and preparing for recertification, Focus offers up to 40 CME credits a year.Both the Focus self-assessment exam and the practice guideline CME tests have been approved by the ABPN as part of a “comprehensive lifelong learning and self-assessment program,” one of the components of the concept of maintenance of certification being mandated by the American Board of Medical Specialties.“Grand Rounds Online” offers another interactive, Web-based vehicle for staying current in psychiatry. Recent courses offered to members via the “Grand Rounds Online” list serve include “From Science to Practice: How to Critically Evaluate the Literature,”“ Homophobia,” and “Interactions of Physicians and Pharmaceutical Companies.” Each program provides free CME for the live or archived discussion.The deadline for this year's recertification exam for general psychiatry has already passed. The deadline for applications for next year's exam—to be held July 31 to August 4, 2006, and August 7 to 11, 2006—is October 1. “APA wants to help our members practice the best medicine possible,” said Hales. “And we want to help them pass these exams.”APA's CME programs can be accessed online at<www.psych.org/cme/apacme>. Information on the recertification exam and schedules is posted online at<www.abpn.com/recertification/content—psych-recert.html>. Information on maintenance of certification is posted online at<www.abms.org/MOC.asp>.▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Board Certification in Child Neurology and Neurology: Cohort Study

This study followed the progress of a cohort of child neurology and neurology graduates who sought certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). The 211 candidates were recent graduates when they initiated the certification process in October 1994, and 92% of them have achieved certification. First-attempt performances on the Part I and Part II examinations were related; 62% of those certified passed both on their first attempts. Of those who were certified, 24% also achieved certification in at least one additional ABPN specialty (psychiatry) or subspecialty (clinical neurophysiology, neurodevelopmental disabilities, and pain medicine). Overall, it was estimated that 82% of the 1994 child neurology and neurology graduates sought ABPN certification, and of these, 82% were successful.

Cogitations on Maturity and Practice Expertise

This systematic review included 62 studies intended to measure physician knowledge or quality of care in relation to age or time since medical school graduation. Groups ranged in size from 22 to 6344 and consisted mostly of generalists and internists, but also some specialists, including surgeons, cardiologists, gynecologists, anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, and pediatricians. Most measures were assessed by questionnaire and focused upon clinical knowledge and standards of practice for diagnosis, screening, prevention, and therapy. Only 7 studies dealt with actual health outcomes. Most studies (52%) showed “decreasing performance with increasing years in practice.” The ages of the authors (a potential conflict-of-interest source) are not cited. Thus far, the failing competence of maturing neurologists has escaped notorious documentation. Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in His hand. Robert Browning Evidently, editor Samuels dumped (assigned) this review upon me because I have no conflict of interest, since my aged but now-yellowing American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) Neurology Board Certificate is secure from medicolegal recertification challenge. Certainly, it cannot be gainsaid that all neurologists’ performance is a fair issue of concern, both …

Research Training in Psychiatry Residency: Strategies for Reform

Research Training in Psychiatry Residency: Strategies for Reform

Research Training in Psychiatry Residency: Strategies for Reform

Research Training in Psychiatry Residency: Strategies for Reform

Boarding Time: The Psychiatry Candidate's New Guide to Part II of the ABPN Examination,3rd ed.

Article Abstract Because this piece does not have an abstract, we have provided for your benefit the first 3 sentences of the full text. This book was new to me and I was surprised by how helpful it was. I had no such how-to-do-it guides available to me when I took the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) examination in 1966, but it would have been comforting to have such a sage companion escort me through the process. Ironically, I was in the process of reviewing this book while serving as a senior examiner during a recent Part II Board examination(Boston, May 2004) and, reading it during some breaks, was impressed with the number of my team’s examiners who spontaneously told me that they had used this book and found it extraordinarily helpful when they took the Boards.

Core Competencies for Psychiatric Practice: What Clinicians Need to Know

STEPHEN C. SCHEIBER, THOMAS A. M. KRAMER, AND SUSAN E. ADAMOWSKI (EDS.): Core Competencies for Psychiatric Practice: What Clinicians Need to Know. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc., 2003, 194 pp., $29.00 paperback, ISBN 1-58562-112-9. The recent upsurge of interest in the definition and specification of core competencies in psychiatry and, generally, in medicine has left many practitioners simultaneously intrigued and bewildered. It is difficult to oppose a movement which states that it favors higher standards of training and assessment for psychiatrists, that interpersonal skills and professionalism have been underemphasized or taken for granted in medical school and psychiatric training, and that learning is a lifelong activity that must be actively maintained in order for the practitioner to continue to provide high quality care. Yet the jump from these ideals to recertification examinations, detailed and highly operationalized statements about resident performance, and adoption of an entire new vocabulary (360-degree evaluations, maintenance of certification, competency itself) has left many clinicians cold, with worries that an entire new bureaucracy is about to be foisted on already-overburdened practitioners, complete with unrealistic expectations, overly detailed requirements, and detachment from the realities of clinical practice. This new volume does much to demystify the issues surrounding the specification and assessment of competent psychiatric practice. Edited by leaders in the field of educational assessment in psychiatry, with contributions from undisputed giants in psychiatric education (e.g., Michael Ebert, Larry Faulkner, Pedro Ruiz, and Daniel Winstead), this book first walks the reader through the history of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and its various examinations, describes the growth of the competency-assessment movement in Canada (somewhat ahead of the U.S. in this area), and traces the development of precursor initiatives from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of Medical Specialties. The reader who pays close attention to these first four chapters will find the specific competencies whose descriptions follow much more comprehensible than the one who skips these first chapters. The heart of the book is in chapters 5-11, in which specific competencies for physicians in general and for psychiatrists in particular are detailed. These are broken into six areas: patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communications skills, practice-based learning and improvement, professionalism, and systems-based practice. Additionally, there is one chapter on what psychiatrists should know about neurology. As above, in some cases there is little here with which one would disagree, e.g., the physician shall demonstrate the following abilities: A. Listen to and understand patients and attend to nonverbal communication; B. Communicate effectively with patients, using verbal, nonverbal, and written skills as appropriate; [and] C. …

Cross-cultural issues in forensic psychiatry training.

Forensic psychiatry was officially recognized as a subspecialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties in the 1990's. In 1994, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) gave its first written examination to certify forensic psychiatrists. In 1996, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) began to officially accredit one-year residency experiences in forensic psychiatry, which follow a 4-year residency in general psychiatry. The extra year of training, colloquially known as a fellowship, is required for candidates who wish to receive certification in the subspecialty of forensic psychiatry; since 2001, completion of a year of training in a program accredited by ACGME has been required for candidates wishing to take the ABPN forensic psychiatry subspecialty examination. With the formal recognition of the subspecialty of forensic psychiatry comes the need to examine special issues of cultural importance which apply specifically to forensic psychiatry training. This paper examines the current literature on cross-cultural issues in forensic psychiatry, sets out several of the societal reasons for the importance of emphasizing those issues in forensic psychiatric training, and discusses how those issues are addressed in the curriculum of one forensic psychiatry fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). While much has been written about cross-cultural issues in general psychiatry, very little has appeared in the literature on the topic of cross-cultural issues in forensic psychiatry.

Residency Reforms Could Reverse Dearth of Researchers

Residency Reforms Could Reverse Dearth of Researchers

APA Trustees Hear of Brightening Fiscal Picture

APA Trustees Hear of Brightening Fiscal Picture

Achieving board certification in psychiatry: a cohort study.

The purpose of this study was to track the progress of a cohort of graduates of psychiatry residency training programs in achieving certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). These data provide a detailed picture of how recent graduates perform on the ABPN's examinations. The subjects for this study were the 739 new candidates who sat for the part I examination in fall 1994. The cohort's performance on the part I and part II examinations was analyzed, as was the relationship between performance on the two examinations. Approximately 8 years after their first attempt at the part I examination, 85% of the cohort were certified, and 15% were not. The majority passed both the part I and part II examinations on the first attempt. Those who passed part I on the first attempt were more likely than those who failed to pass part II on the first attempt. Of the 627 who were certified at follow-up, 199 (32%) were also certified in one subspecialty, and 29 (5%) were certified in two, for a total of 257 subspecialty certificates. The results of this study suggest that most recent graduates of residency training programs who attempt the ABPN process are likely to become board certified, and the majority will do so by passing both components on the first attempt.