One Small Step

Here's the official final wording of the AMA House of Delegates' Resolution 309, Continuing Medical Education Pathway for Recertification adopted June 15, 2016:

Resolution 309, Continuing Medical Education Pathway for Recertification, was adopted as amended. The final recommendations are as follows:

RESOLVED, That our American Medical Association call for the immediate end of any mandatory, secured recertifying examination by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or other certifying organizations as part of the recertification process for all those specialties that still require a secure, high-stakes recertification examination; and be it further

RESOLVED, That our AMA support a recertification process based on high quality, appropriate Continuing Medical Education (CME) material directed by the AMA recognized specialty societies covering the physician’s practice area, in cooperation with other willing stakeholders, that would be completed on a regular basis as determined by the individual medical specialty, to ensure lifelong learning; and be it further

RESOLVED, That our AMA reaffirm Policies H-275.924 and D-275.954 (Author's note: use the AMA Policy Finder to review these policies); and be it further

RESOLVED, That our AMA continue to work with the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) to encourage the development by and the sharing between specialty boards of alternative ways to assess medical knowledge other than by a secure exam; and be it further

RESOLVED, That our AMA continue to support the requirement of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and ongoing, quality assessments of physicians, where such CME is proven to be cost-effective and shown by evidence to improve quality of care for patients.

-Wes