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Many ABMS member boards have created Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements which require significant time and expense and have no proven value. For many physicians, participation in MOC activities is required to maintain board certification and board certification is required to maintain hospital privileges.
A new certifying organization, the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS.org), was created to provide an alternative to ABMS certification. NBPAS certification requires initial certification by an ABMS member board but uses accredited CME instead of MOC as the primary measure of continuing certification. Accredited CME is a meaningful educational activity that can be tailored to an individual physician’s practice.
After only one year of operation, over 3100 physicians are now NBPAS certified. Many hospitals now accept NBPAS as an alternative to ABMS certification. Summary criteria for NBPAS certification:
– Previous certification by an ABMS member board
– Valid license to practice medicine
– At least 50 hours of ACCME accredited CME within the past 24 months
– For selected specialties, active hospital privileges in that specialty
– Clinical privileges in certified specialty have not been permanently revoked
NBPAS is a Not For Profit 501(c)(3) corporation. Physician leaders and board members are not paid.
Two things you can do to help this grass roots movement:
1) Go to NBPAS.org to learn more and apply for NBPAS certification. The application is painless, user friendly and takes < 15min. The cost is $169 for two year
certification.
2) Petition your hospital’s credentials and medical executive committees to accept NBPAS as an alternative to ABMS certification.
Download sample PowerPoints, petitions, and letters to spread the word at: NBPAS.org NBPAS Board Members:
Paul Teirstein, M.D., President NBPAS, Chief of Cardiology, Scripps Clinic
John Anderson, M.D., Past President, Medicine and Science, American Diabetes Association, Frist Clinic, Nashville, TN
David John Driscoll, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Daniel Einhorn, M.D., Past President, American College of Endocrinology; Past President, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Bernard Gersh, M.D., Professor of
Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
C. Michael Gibson, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Paul G. Mathew, M.D., FAHS, Director of CME, Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Dept Neurology
Jordan Metcalf, M.D., Professor and Research Director, Pulm. & Crit. Care, Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center
J. Marc Pipas, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School
Jeffrey Popma, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Harry E. Sarles Jr., M.D., FACG, Immediate Past President for the American College of Gastroenterology
Hal Scherz, M.D., Chief of Urology- Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, Assoc Clinical Professor of Urology Emory University
Karen S. Sibert, M.D., Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Secretary, California Society of Anesthesiologists Gregg W. Stone, M.D.,
Professor of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Eric Topol, M.D., Chief Academic Officer, Scripps Health; Director, Scripps Translational Science Institute
Bonnie Weiner, M.D., Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Mathew Williams, M.D., Chief, Division of Adult Cardiac Surgery, New York University Medical Center
