Meeting the ConCert Exam LLSA Requirements

Part II of your ABEM MOC requirements is Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment, or LLSA.

To complete it, you must:

Pass four LLSA tests in years 1 through 5 of your certification and four Emergency Medicine ConCert review in years 6 through 10 of your certification, and report 25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ per year, eight of which must be "self assessment,” averaged over each five-year period. The Patient Safety LLSA is required for all diplomates whose certificates expire in 2017 and will replace one of the eight self-assessment requirements.

All CME must be related to your practice. Types of CME that are considered to be equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ include AAFP Prescribed Credit, ACOG Cognates, and AOA Category 1-A Credits. Examples of self-assessment and ABEM Recertification activities are:

• Activities that have a testing component, particularly a post-test
• Activities that are simulation-based, during which feedback is provided
• The LLSA Concert Exam CME activities
• Activities that use external assessment methods and standards
• CME activities involving patient and peer review
• Practice Improvement Modules (PIMs), Self-Assessment Modules (SAMs), and similarly designed CME activities that are offered by other medical specialty boards

Your deadlines for completing these requirements depend on your certification expiration date.To check your own certification status and requirements, visit the ABEM website and log on to ABEM MOC Online. 

Read More: http://www.acep.org/content.aspx?id=34528

LLSA ConCert Examination

ABEM diplomates are required to pass an examination that assesses cognitive expertise once in years six through ten of their certification. The examination is referred to as the ConCert™ Examination (or LLSA Concert Exam).

Key Features of the ConCert Examination

• Comprehensive, multiple-choice question examination that takes approximately five and one-quarter hours to complete.
• Comprised of questions focused on what the practicing emergency physician needs to know when treating patients.
• Questions derived from The Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine (EM Model).
• Secure, proctored examination administered at over 200 computer-based Pearson VUE testing centers around the United States and Canada.
• Physicians register for the ConCert™ Examination through their ABEM MOC Personal Page, then schedule a specific appointment with Pearson VUE to take the examination.
• Passing the ConCert™ Examination early does not renew the diplomate’s certificate. Diplomates can register and take the exam during the scheduled ConCert™ exam administration in years six through ten of their certification.
• Diplomates are not required to meet other MOC requirements to take the ABEM recertification  exam. However, certification can only be renewed if all MOC requirements are met.

Taking the ConCert™ Examination

Information needed to prepare for and take the emergency medicine concert review can be found in the Information for ConCert™ Examination Candidates book. It also contains information related to scheduling, rescheduling, or canceling an examination appointment.

ConCert™ Examination Quick Facts

• 92% of physicians taking the 2014 ConCert™ Examination see value in the recertification process
• Emergency physician performance on the ConCert™ Examination suggests that emergency physicians maintain diagnostic processing and medical knowledge over the course of their careers.
• EM Milestones studies demonstrated validity and reliability as an assessment instrument for competency acquisition

Reference: https://www.abem.org/public/abem-maintenance-of-certification-%28moc%29/moc-assessment-of-cognitive-expertise/concert%28tm%29-examination-overview

Preparing for the ABEM Emergency Medicine Board Exams

Background:

Emergency medicine (EM) residency graduates need to pass both the written qualifying exam and oral certification exam as the final benchmark to achieve ABEM board certification through The American Board of Emergency Medicine ( ABEM ).  Following the successful completion of an accredited emergency medicine residency, candidates for board certification take the written qualifying exam in the fall after graduation as the first step to becoming an ABEM diplomate.  If successful in this first step, candidates will take the oral certification exam in the spring or fall of the following year. 

Many residents and recent graduates spend a significant amount of time and money preparing for the board exams using emergency medicine board review.  As a result, EMRA would like to help you to make informed decisions about how best to spend your time and money preparing for the boards. As EMRA neither produces nor promotes any specific board review product, the EMRA Board of Directors has sponsored a survey of recent graduates to assess their overall preparation for the boards and their opinions and comments about specific board review products that they may have used during their preparations.  Every effort was made to include a comprehensive list of all textbooks, review courses, tutoring, and online products available. 

The objectives of the survey are to:

1) Determine the amount of residency and individual preparation, 

2) Determine the extent of the use of various board review products, and 

3) Elicit evaluations of the various board review products used for the ABEM qualifying and certification exams.

Methods:

EM residency graduates from the past three years who were members of EMRA upon their graduation from residency were surveyed via email. There are approximately 900 residents graduating from residency each year with 95% of these graduates being EMRA members.  Residents were sent an introductory email explaining the survey and three follow-up emails with links to the online survey.  A total of 520 graduates completed the survey corresponding to a response rate of approximately 19%. 

Respondents were asked about the presence of formalized educational activities within residency training for the written and oral board exams, frequency of formalized training sessions, average numbers of hours per week spent studying for the boards.  They were asked to comment upon the numbers and types of board review products used.  For each product, respondents were asked to rate the quality of content; quality of the figures and photos; level of detail; relevance of practice questions; ease of use; value for time and money; and overall impression.

Reference: https://www.emra.org/resources/preparing-for-the-boards/

In Training and Inservice Exam

The In Training Examination is similar in emphasis and format to the Certification Examination.  It consists of items written to test core knowledge and patient management skills in eight major areas:  Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Community Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Geriatrics and Gynecology.  Physicians who write the test items, as well as the members of the special committee who review them, include both practicing clinicians and teachers in Family Medicine residency programs.

Emergency Medicine (EM) residents take the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) intraining exam, and performance on this exam has been shown to correlate to performance on the ABEM qualifying exam. Residents value the in-training exam as a marker of their academic progress and for their ability to gain familiarity with the qualifying exam. They prefer question-based preparation over text-based learning, as long as there is a detailed explanation of each answer. Educators creating structured in-training review may want to focus on question-based material with detailed explanations.

Internal medicine residents are inadequately prepared for EM topics that they feel are important to their education, specifically airway management, ophthalmology, environmental emergencies and orthopedics.

Annual inservice exam is a yearly test that aims to prepare residents for their formal board exams at the end of residency training. Residents must find time in their busy clinical schedules to study for exams, using a combination of textbooks and board review questions. This in service examination helps residents to obtain their emergency medicine certificates in their busy work schedules.

The annual American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) in-training examination is a tool to assess resident progress and knowledge.

The Emergency Medicine Certificate (EMC) is a six month competency-based training program that is conducted in the workplace. Candidates are required to be working within an emergency department under the supervision of an approved ACEM Supervisor who has completed the Clinical Teaching Course.

Reference: http://www.imedicalapps.com/2013/04/emergency-medicine-board-review-question-bank-app-ios-android/

Emergency Medicine ConCert Review Course

Generally ABEM ConCert Exam review courses offer a comprehensive review for physicians preparing for a certification, recertification or in-service exam. Many physicians and advanced practice providers who treat urgent medical conditions attend these courses for continuous certification and a review of the core content of emergency medicine. The goal of the course to help participants pass their exams - drives the content.

Now, generally EM review course helps to-

• Start with a briefing on the concert exam, including the oral exam techniques; note-taking; and organizational tips
• Move into a strict simulation of the actual oral examination
• More intensive preparation and more detailed tips and strategies for effective exam technique
• Extra information and training to help you better understand the exam process, including the eOral, and build confidence.

We can say that popular em review courses generally follow the pattern and methods of ABEM recertification courses and help physicians to get ABEM certificates.

Emergency Medicine (EM) is a relatively new specialty within medicine that is expanding at a phenomenal pace throughout the globe.

Emergency medicine is a medical specialty involving care for adult and pediatric patients with acute illnesses or injuries that require immediate medical attention. While not usually providing long-term or continuing care, emergency physicians, who usually have a D.O. or M.D. degree, diagnose a variety of illnesses and undertake acute interventions to resuscitate and stabilize patients. Emergency medicine physicians generally practice in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings via emergency medical services, other locations where initial medical treatment of illness takes place, and recently the intensive-care unit. Just as clinicians operate by immediacy rules under large emergency systems, emergency practitioners aim to diagnose emergent conditions and stabilize the patient for definitive care.

Read More: http://www.icep.org/cme-conference/oral-board-review/

ABEM Emergency Medicine and ABEM Exam

Emergency Medicine Board Review specifically address the needs of busy emergency physicians required to take their certification or recertification examinations and who wanted a highly focused, no-fluff course that delivers the information they need in a concentrated, high-yield manner. It assists physicians in passing their exams. This objective drives the content of the course. Although the course has had modest revisions over the years, it has been substantially updated. This course covers many topics, many of which most medical professionals won't encounter in their everyday practice, but are still "must know" for the board exam. The topics that abem questions cover may include- Cardiology, Dermatology, Endocrine, ENT, Environmental, GI, HEM / ONC, Nephrology, Neuro Psych, OB / GYN, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Policies-Procedures & Skills, Pulmonary, Test Taking, Toxicology, Trauma.

There are three steps to achieve Emergency Medicine certification: 1) applying and credentialing, 2) taking and passing a qualifying examination, and 3) taking and passing an oral certification examination. Physicians who successfully complete each of these steps are certified as diplomates of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) Certification is for a period of ten years. To maintain certification beyond the expiration date of the certificate, diplomates must participate in the ABEM Maintenance of Certification (ABEM MOC) program.

The certification process begins with successful completion of an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education – (ACGME) or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada – (RCPSC) accredited residency program in Emergency Medicine. ABEM also recognizes specific combined training programs that have been approved in advance by the respective sponsoring boards. A current list of combined Emergency Medicine training programs is available on the ACGME. Residency graduates apply to ABEM for certification. Once ABEM verifies their credentials and accepts their applications, they automatically receive an assignment to the qualifying examination.

In order to take the qualifying examination, physicians must accept the assignment by registering for and scheduling an appointment to take the examination. ABEM administers the qualifying examination annually in late October or early November.

The abem examination is the only U.S. exam certifying physicians in EDX medicine, with more than 3,500 physicians currently certified. ABEM promotes high quality patient care by overseeing a certification process that requires physicians to obtain specific academic training and clinical experience, then demonstrate competency in the EDX evaluation of neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems by passing a comprehensive written and oral examination.


Read More: http://www.ceme.org/emergency-medicine-board-review-faq

Aim of In Training Exam

The In Training Examination is a national and yearly exam administered by the American Board of Emergency Medicine to all emergency medicine residents in the USA. It helps to evaluate a resident’s progress in obtaining the fundamental knowledge to practice independent emergency medicine. This study helps to point out  the effects of a 40 hour board review lecture course on the resident in-training examination in emergency medicine.

A 40 hour board review lecture course was designed and implemented during the weekly 5 hour long resident conferences during the 8 weeks preceding the in-training examination date in 2006. Attendance was mandatory at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) standard of 70% or greater. A positive result was considered to be a 10% increase or greater in the resident’s individual national class percentile ranking among their national peers for their class year for the emergency medicine in-training examination.

According to the ABEM website ,persons having higher In Training Exam scores possess higher chance of passing the initial qualifying examination to be certified emergency medicine physicians than residents with lower exam scores.

Read More:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657258/

Inservice Exam & Intraining

Inservice Exam helps to identify areas of deficiency in a resident's surgical education, ,to track a resident's progress from year to year and ,  to enable the program director, director of medical education, and the Residency Evaluation and Standards Committee to evaluate the strengths and deficiencies of each training program.

Intraining Exam helps residents to become well equipped with basics of emergency surgeries. The American Board of Emergency Medicine ( ABEM ) in-training examination is a yearly national cognitive test administered to emergency medicine residents in USA to evaluate progress toward obtaining the fundamental knowledge to be independent emergency physicians.

A 40 hour board review lecture course was designed and implemented during the weekly 5 hour long resident conferences during the 8 weeks preceding the in-training examination date in 2006. The review course was based on the topics outlined in the “model of clinical practice of emergency medicine”. The course consisted of lecture reviews of test taking skills, trauma, pediatric emergencies, toxicological emergencies, cardiac emergencies, pulmonary emergencies, gastroenterology emergencies, neurology-psychiatry emergencies, endocrine emergencies, hematology-oncology emergencies, otorhinolaryngology-ophthalmology emergencies, genitourinary emergencies, obstetric-gynecology emergencies, orthopedic emergencies, dermatology-environmental emergencies, and emergency medicine potpourri given by the emergency medicine faculty at a university medical center. To accommodate the inclusion of the 40 hour review lecture series, the 4 hour monthly journal club was suspended for 10 months. Furthermore, attendance was mandatory at these lectures at the standard Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guideline of 70% or greater. A positive result was chosen to be a 10% increase or greater in the resident’s individual national class percentile ranking among their national peers for their class year for the emergency medicine in-training examination. A resident was excluded from the study if there was no 2005 in-training examination score for self-comparison. The 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to analyze the results. Of 16 residents, 1 (6.25%; 95% CI: 0–18%) showed a positive result of increasing their national class percentile ranking by 10% or greater. For the PGY2, one of the eight had a positive result (12.5%; 95% CI: 0–35.4%). For PGY3, no resident (0%; 95% CI: 0–35.4%) had a positive result.

Read More: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657258/