The AOCOO-HNS Foundation Board of Directors approved a recommendation brought by the Foundation Advisory Committee (FAC). Because of funding cuts within hospitals, Drs. Paul Imber and Jack Alway realized there was a need to support PGY 2 & 3 ophthalmology residents and PGY 3 & 4 otolaryngology residents pay for their continuing education. Drs. Imber and Alway made a presentation to the FAC and asked the FAC to recommend to the Foundation Board of Directors to create a Covid-19 Resident Education Grant. This grant will provide up to $750.00 per resident, towards reimbursing educational expenses. An electronic application has been created and is available on our website. www.aocoohns.org
Thank you Drs. Imber and Alway, for creating this wonderful opportunity for our PGY 2 & 3 ophthalmology residents and our PGY 3 & 4 otolaryngology residents.
Education Committee Report by Lyndsay Madden, DO
2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, to say the least, and this was no different for the members of the AOCOO-HNS Education Committee. We worked tirelessly with the leadership of program chairs Namrata Varma, DO (ENT) and Tim Winter, DO (Ophthalmology) to develop educational content for an outstanding meeting. Unfortunately, as you are aware, the meeting was unable to transpire and all of this hard work and amazing program was unable to be seen by our membership. However, never fear, we have already begun to plan the 2021 ACA to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana with the program chairs Michael Foster, DO (ENT) and Bob Peets, DO (Ophthalmology). We are all excited to see everyone next year and to again provide membership with an exceptional program. Stay tuned…
Osteopathic Continuing Certification: Modernizing Cognitive Assessment
For those of us with time dated ophthalmology or otolaryngology specialty certificates we are required to take a written exam every ten years. This is Component 3: Cognitive Assessment of the Osteopathic Continuous Certification (OCC). This exam may be taken three years prior to the expiration date of our board certification and costs approximately $2,000. This exam has historically been more clinically oriented as compared to our initial written and oral board examinations. Ophthalmologists and otolaryngologists with non-time-dated or non-expiring board certification are not required to participate in OCC however they may elect to participate voluntarily if they choose.
The Task Force on Osteopathic Specialty Colleges, of which Kristin Reidy, DO is a member, is working with the AOA to make continuing certification more relevant and user friendly to AOCOO-HNS members. A written exam administered every ten years to a group of physicians admittedly has it’s pitfalls. To address this there is a national push to provide physicians with monthly Cognitive Assessment articles with follow up questions in areas that might be more directly applicable to a doctor’s individual practice focus.
One by one, specialty boards like ours will likely launch such modernized Cognitive Assessments. The American Osteopathic Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AOBOG) recently launched their “Advanced Real-time Certification” (ARC), an online longitudinal assessment program that allows its physicians to fulfill their OCC Cognitive Assessment Component 3 requirements more conveniently over time, rather than through an in-person recertification exam.
The OBGYN ARC participants complete 24 online assessment items annually (8 per quarter for the first three quarters of each year). During the fourth quarter, they have the opportunity to revisit any items answered incorrectly during previous quarters. Items answered correctly during this second-chance round will cancel out the previous responses and count toward your overall score.
To maintain their OCC Cognitive Assessment requirements for their sub-specialty, OBGYN physicians need to complete 10 assessment items annually. During the fourth quarter, they have the opportunity to revisit any items answered incorrectly during previous quarters.