Press Releases

When the Medicine-Pediatrics Program Directors Association (MPPDA) holds its annual spring meeting this week, it will present the MPPDA Leadership in Med-Peds Award to a physician who has made significant contributions to the profession of Medicine-Pediatrics (Med-Peds).

The award winner is "outstanding in their clinical field, a national leader in med-peds, and has made a significant contribution to the education of med-peds residents, promoted student interest in training in med-peds, supported faculty development of med-peds, and supported the…

Last week, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) presented awards to 27 recipients at its Annual Educational Conference, one of the largest gatherings of graduate medical educators in the world. 

Suzanne K. Woods, MD, Executive Vice President of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), was one of nine recipients of The Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award. The award is “given to program directors who have fostered innovation and improvement in their residency programs and served as exemplary role models for residents.”

Dr. Woods joined the ABP staff on Jan. 1, 2018. Before coming to the ABP…

The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has made significant changes to its Maintenance of Certification Program (MOC) over the past several years. Many changes were prompted by diplomates who believe in the benefits of certification and ongoing assessment, and want to help improve the process.

The ABP is striving to make the MOC process more efficient and effective for pediatricians who want to provide excellent care for children. MOC provides tools for life-long learning, knowledge assessment, and quality improvement, and documents for the public that pediatricians are staying current and improving their practice. 

The ABP realizes that pediatricians engage in a wide…

Suzanne K. Woods, MD, has been named Executive Vice President of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).

Dr. Woods joined the ABP staff on Jan. 1, 2018, as Vice President of Credentialing and Initial Certification. The ABP Board of Directors approved her additional role on Feb. 15. She succeeds Gail A. McGuinness, MD, who retired Dec. 31, 2017.

As Executive Vice President (EVP), Dr. Woods will provide redundancy for internal operations activities for the ABP President & CEO, David G…

Pediatricians who enroll or re-enroll in Maintenance of Certification (MOC) with the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) may now choose to break up their fee into annual payments. Alternately, if they prefer, they may choose to pay the full 5-year fee up front when they enroll in a new MOC cycle.

“Some board-certified pediatricians have asked for this, and we are pleased to accommodate them while still maintaining the previous method of paying fees” said Virginia Moyer, MD, MPH.

Dr. Moyer, ABP’s Vice President of MOC and Quality, said that many pediatricians have shared with the ABP their desire to use professional development funds they receive from the hospital or practice…

Beginning in 2019, thanks to the work of more than 10,000 board-certified pediatrician volunteers, the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) will offer a new way to fulfill the MOC Part 3 (exam) requirement: the Maintenance of Certification Assessment for Pediatrics, or MOCA-Peds.

MOCA-Peds is an online, non-proctored assessment platform. With the help of those pediatrician volunteers, MOCA-Peds was launched as a pilot in January 2017.  The pilot will continue as the platform is refined in 2018 before it goes live in 2019.

The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has selected Elizabeth (Cason) Benton, MD, to receive the 2018 Paul V. Miles (PVM) Fellowship Award, given annually to an accomplished mid-career pediatrician dedicated to improving the quality of health care for children. Dr. Benton is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and founding Director of the Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance (ACHIA).

Dr.…

The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) congratulates Dr. Thomas F. Boat, who has been named 2018 John Howland Award recipient, the most prestigious award presented within the American Pediatric Society (APS).

Dr. Boat is Dean Emeritus of the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, and Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and was chair of the ABP Board of Directors in 1994.

Dr. Boat began his…

The New England Journal of Medicine has published a perspective article featuring the American Board of Pediatrics Vice President, Dr. Carol Carraccio and her colleague, Dr. Deborah E. Powell. The piece outlines the recent evolution of competency-based medical education in pediatric training models and highlights the need for a more flexible training approach and timelines.

While the standards of education remain rigorous, the required timeframe in which to train and assess trainees may vary. The authors also stressed the importance of the continuum of education and proper assessment.

Carraccio and Powell encourage the…

Patience Leino, Senior Administrator for MOC External Activities at the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), received a 2017 Partners in Healing Award from the Patients' View Institute (PVI). She received the award, together with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Medical Center, on Dec. 7, 2017.

Leino received the award for sharing her story and…