Choosing Your Activity Requirements

Current requirements for MOC activities for Board certified physicians within the MOC process — in particular Part IV: Improvement in Medical Practice (PIP) — have been the subject of increased discussion recently by physicians and medical societies.

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) – which ABPN works with as one of 24 Member Boards – serves the medical profession by setting overall standards for Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) processes. These standards help physicians ensure that the Board Certification credential is and remains relevant and meaningful to the profession and to the day-to-day practices of diplomates. ABPN has always advocated vigorously within the ABMS for MOC Standards that are as reasonable and flexible as possible. By permitting our diplomates to choose the products they complete for Self-Assessment, CME, and PIP activities, ABPN has tried to make our MOC requirements relevant and meaningful.

ABPN has worked to develop a clear MOC program that will enable diplomates to demonstrate their competence throughout a certificate cycle. As part of that program, diplomates are required to fulfill activities to satisfy components of Maintenance of Certification.

Based on recent feedback from its professional society partners, the ABPN has respectfully asked the ABMS to consider modifying its 2015 MOC Standards so that Part IV is an optional component of MOC. Unless and until that happens, the ABPN will continue to follow the ABMS MOC Standards and require participating diplomates to complete all four Parts of MOC.

Guidelines to Keep in Mind

See the 10-Year Program page or the C-MOC Program page for specific amounts of CME, Self-Assessment, Patient Safety and Improvement in Medical Practice activities that are required for your certification timing. You can also view the ABPN Guide to MOC for more information.

Diplomates are required to complete only one set of requirements, regardless of the number of certifications he/she has. The activities can be in either the general specialty and/or subspecialty(ies). See the 10-Year Program or the C-MOC Program details for specific quantity of CME, Self-Assessment, and Improvement in Medical Practice (PIP) activities that are required for your certification timeline.

For Continuing Medical Education: Diplomates choose their own CME activities. CME activities do not need to be ABPN approved.
For Self-Assessment (SA) Activities: Diplomates choose their own ABPN-Approved SA Activities. These activities must be relevant to either their specialty and/or subspecialty.
For Patient Safety Activities: Diplomates should see their Physician Folios account to learn if this requirement applies to them.
For Improvement in Medical Practice (PIP) Activities: Diplomates choose their own ABPN-Approved PIP activities. These activities must be relevant to either their specialty and/or subspecialty.
- Diplomates choose ONE Clinical Module OR Feedback Module to complete the PIP Activity.