Press Releases

Gary Frank, MD, MS, Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has been selected by the ABP to receive the 2019 Paul V. Miles (PVM) Fellowship Award. The award is given annually to an accomplished mid-career pediatrician dedicated to improving the quality of health care for children. Later this year, as part of the fellowship, Dr. Frank will visit the ABP offices and give grand rounds at the University of North Carolina and Duke University medical schools to discuss his work in quality and patient safety.

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The waiting room. A desk in an office. A comfortable chair at home.  These aren’t places that physicians normally associate with taking a high-stakes certification exam. But for pediatricians certified by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), that will soon change.

A new paper published in Pediatrics (“MOCA-Peds: Development of a New Assessment of Medical Knowledge for Continuing Certification”) details the development of the Maintenance of Certification Assessment for Pediatrics (MOCA-Peds), a new online, non-proctored assessment soon to be offered by the ABP. The paper offers…

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The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has given the Quality Improvement (MOC Part 4) section of its website a face-lift to make it easier for board-certified pediatricians to explore the many ways to complete their MOC Part 4 requirements. For pediatricians with MOC cycles ending in 2018, the renewal is especially timely.

“Now pediatricians can learn more about their Part 4 options without logging into their ABP Portfolio,” says Virginia Moyer, MD, MPH, Vice President, Maintenance of Certification and Quality at the ABP. “The overview can help them see how improvement work in all professional activities –…

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Nearly 50 representatives from Pediatric Portfolio Sponsor organizations across the country met in Durham, North Carolina, this summer to learn and share best practices with their peers. Pediatric Portfolio Sponsors are authorized by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) to evaluate local and institutional QI projects against the ABP’s standards and then approve QI projects for MOC credit.

“This was our third year to host the Portfolio Sponsors, and attendance grows each year,” said Kristi Gilreath, Director of MOC External Activities at the ABP. “Some of the portfolio managers who attended have years of quality improvement experience, while others were new to the process, and…

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Keith J. Mann, MD, MEd, will become Vice President for Continuing Certification at the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), effective Jan. 1, 2019, the ABP has announced. He is ABP certified in general pediatrics and is meeting the requirements of maintenance of certification.

Dr. Mann will succeed Virginia Moyer, MD, MPH, who will retire on Dec. 31, 2018. He may begin transitioning into his responsibilities in the fall of 2018.

In his role as Vice President for Continuing Certification, he will lead the…

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The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has redesigned its ABP Portfolio homepage, focusing on making relevant information readily available and easily accessible for physicians.

The ABP consulted with board-certified pediatricians, who use the site regularly, to ensure it understood obstacles, concerns, and needs of the physicians. As a result, the new page includes a more individualized, tailored layout.

Physicians’ personalized homepages feature:

  • A quick snapshot of their MOC requirement information;
  • Their exam registration and scheduling information; and
  • Access to their important documents, like receipts and exam results.
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After the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) made enhancements last year to its Question of the Week (QOW) self-assessment activity, participation in the popular activity has risen to nearly 21,000 board-certified pediatricians.

QOW participants can earn 10 Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part 2 points and 10 CME hours (starting in 2017) for every 20 questions they answer correctly. Each week’s question includes a pediatric case study, an abstract with commentary, and hyperlinked references. Because questions remain in an archive and can be answered for credit for up to three years from the release date, participants can skip some weeks or answer more than one question other…

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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 development and betterment…

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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, Dr…

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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 lifelong 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…

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