FAQ VI: Questions About Diagnostic Radiology

What if I have multiple certificates?

If I have more than one time-limited ABR certificate, what do I need to do? Are my requirements and fees doubled?
I am a lifetime-certified diagnostic radiologist with a time-limited subspecialty certificate. If I enroll voluntarily for my lifetime certificate, and participate as required for my time-limited certificate, will I have to pay two MOC fees-one for the diagnostic radiology certification, plus one for the subspecialty?
If I have two different MOC cycles, one for my neuro certificate and one for my peds certificate, how can I have only one set of requirements?
Will I receive just one MOC certificate, or one for each area in which I have an initial certificate?

Responses

If I have more than one time-limited ABR certificate, what do I need to do? Are my requirements and fees doubled?

No, your requirements and fees are not doubled if you hold two time-limited certificates, nor tripled for three. The MOC program is designed so that your overall participation requirements and fees remain the same, regardless of how many certificates you hold.

The first thing to understand if you hold multiple time-limited certificates is while each certificate will continue to have its own 10-year cycle, the first one that you earned will define your &governing cycle.& The governing cycle, in turn, sets the schedule for (1) your PQI participation (4th MOC component), (2) when you are eligible for examination (3rd component), and (3) your annual fee amount.

Regarding lifelong learning (2nd component), the credits you earn will be counted toward the requirement for each of your certificates. Credits you earn for any state licensure CME requirements may also serve to meet your MOC requirement. You only need to make sure that you pace your credits at about 25 per year, so that each 10-year cycle that you are involved in has a total of 250 credits upon finishing. All SAMs you take are counted toward each of your certificates. There is one caveat for SAMs: at least six of your required SAMs must be in the relevant subspecialty category for every subspecialty certificate you have. For example, a diplomate with subspecialty certificates in both neuroradiology and pediatric radiology should make sure his/her SAMs follow this pattern:

• Four in noninterpretive skills
• Six (at least) in pediatric radiology
• Six (at least) in neuroradiology
• The remaining SAMs required for the cycle may be in any of the above areas, or in other areas of diagnostic radiology.

Your cognitive exam (3rd component) will be practice-profiled to reflect your areas of practice and subspecialty. You will meet the cognitive expertise requirement for all your certificates by taking, on one occasion for all your certificates, a number of exam modules with content related to each of your certificates.

  top

I am a lifetime-certified diagnostic radiologist with a time-limited subspecialty certificate. If I enroll voluntarily for my lifetime certificate, and participate as required for my time-limited certificate, will I have to pay two MOC fees-one for the diagnostic radiology certification, and one for the subspecialty?

No. The MOC process is an integral process that encompasses all the certificates you hold. Neither fees nor requirements increase if you participate in MOC for multiple certificates. Only the proportional distribution of content for your learning activities and your exam may change, depending on the certificates for which you are participating.

  top

If I have two different MOC cycles, one for my neuro certificate and one for my peds certificate, how can I have only one set of requirements?

You may coordinate the fulfillment of your requirements as follows:

• COMPONENT 1:
  The professional standing (licensure) requirement must be fulfilled on a continuous basis, by keeping all state medical licenses current and unrestricted.
• COMPONENT 2:
  The lifelong learning requirement must be fulfilled within each of your cycles. However, all credits you take can be counted twice - once for your neuro and again for your peds certificate. As you come to the end of each cycle, monitor to make sure that your total within the cycle will equal or exceed the stated requirements. Specifically for SAMs, make sure that you have taken at least six in the area of the certificate that is ending.

The following chart illustrates how you can simultaneously fulfill SAM requirements for two certificates:

NIS = Noninterpretive Skills SAM              DR = Diagnostic Radiology SAM
Ped = Pediatric Radiology SAM        Neu = Neuroradiology SAM

• COMPONENT 3:
  The cognitive expertise requirement is fulfilled by taking and passing a computer-based examination in the last three calendar years of your governing cycle (in the example, this would be the Peds 2007 - 2017 cycle). You need come on only one occasion, every 10 years. When you register for the exam, in addition to selecting date and location, you will indicate your practice profile to determine the categories in which you will receive clinical content modules. In addition to the clinical content modules (at least two per subspecialty certificate area are required to maintain a subspecialty certificate), you will receive one noninterpretive skills module, as do all diagnostic radiologists.
• COMPONENT 4:
  The practice quality improvement project must be completed along the timeline of your governing cycle (in the example, this would be the Peds 2007 - 2017 cycle). The sequence of steps is defined in the PQI Timeline and Milestone Tracking Chart . As long as you are participating in PQI on that schedule your requirement will be considered fulfilled for your other cycle as well.

  top

Will I receive just one MOC certificate or will I get one for each area in which I have an initial certificate?

You will receive a Maintenance of Certification certificate for area in which you are participating in MOC. The certificate states that you have successfully fulfilled the requirements of this Board and maintained certification as a Diplomate of the American Board of Radiology in the relevant specialty/subspecialty field.

The new certificate will be issued at the end of the last year of each respective certificate's 10-year cycle, provided you have met all requirements. For example, a diplomate with certificates in diagnostic radiology (2002-2012) and neuroradiology (2004-2014) will receive one MOC certificate for diagnostic radiology at the end of 2012, and another MOC certificate for neuroradiology at the end of 2014.