No ‘Evil Scientist,’ He Works to Make Exams Fair and Relevant
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2024;17(4):9
Physicians and physicists who work with trainees often benefit from serving as ABR volunteers. It’s definitely been a worthwhile experience for Ken Buckwalter, MD, MBA.
Dr. Buckwalter has volunteered with the ABR for 15 years as an oral examiner and question writer for the Diagnostic Radiology Certifying Exam. In his day jobs, he has instructed residents and fellows, inspiring him to learn how ABR exams are constructed, so he can help the organization continually improve those assessments.
“I was curious about the process,” he said. “If you’re training residents and fellows, you want to understand what the exam looks like.”
A clinical professor of radiology and associate chair and associate chief medical information officer in the division of musculoskeletal radiology at the University of Michigan Medical School, Dr. Buckwalter was initially surprised by the work and assessment involved with writing exam questions.
“A question goes through so much review,” he said. “It goes to an (ABR staff) editor and then you have peers looking at it. And then typically the committee chair reviews it and sometimes it goes up another level for review. The exam has so many eyeballs on it. The effort that goes into making it is remarkable.”
ABR volunteers are subject matter experts in their fields who represent a broad range of professional experience. When committees gather to write questions, their goal is to develop content that a competent candidate in their field can correctly answer. There’s never an intention to trick exam takers.
“There’s no evil scientist behind any of this work,” Dr. Buckwalter said. “It should be a group of well-intended people who work to ensure that questions are legitimate and relevant. The amount of oversight is significant, and the goal is to identify people who probably ought not to practice radiology.”
He recently saw an exam from a candidate’s perspective when he was tested at a facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to gain certification in clinical informatics. It was an interesting experience for a physician who has become more accustomed to writing questions than answering them.
“I was clearly the oldest person in the testing facility,” he said. “These people were taking their GMATs and LSATs and wondering, ‘Who is this old guy?’ It was pretty funny.”
Dr. Buckwalter brings a wealth of clinical and academic experience to his volunteer duties. He worked at the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences with Val Jackson, MD. While Dr. Jackson was the chair of the department, Dr. Buckwalter served as vice chair of clinical operations and clinical director for radiology in the healthcare system.
Dr. Jackson, who served as the ABR’s Executive Director from 2014 to 2020, was happy to see her colleague start volunteering for the organization.
“Throughout his time at IU, he had a heavy clinical load, but was very productive in research and education,” Dr. Jackson said. “He rose through the academic and leadership ranks quickly. He also was always extremely generous with his volunteer activities to multiple organizations, including the ABR.”
Dr. Buckwalter added an MBA to his list of accomplishments in 2014 when he was at Indiana University. He earned his medical degree at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and performed a residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals and a fellowship in MRI/body imaging at the University of Michigan Health System.
He saw the business-focused degree as a necessity for the administrative side of his career.
“It gives you tools like a Swiss Army knife,” he said. “You’re exposed to management techniques that can be used in many aspects of administration. I’m glad I did it and it’s been helpful.”
Dr. Buckwalter is proud to have served the ABR since 2009 and sees committee work as a vital contribution to his field. He is among approximately 1,300 volunteers who make the initial and continuing certification processes fair and relevant for physicians and physicists. The result is worth the time investment.
“Doing volunteer work is essential to our specialty having a good exam process,” he said. “It takes work, but it’s worthwhile.”
