In its recently released toolkit, Practical Guidance to Support Important Transitions: Residency and Fellowship to Practice, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) asks ABMS Member Boards to do what they can to ease the “transition to practice” for 2022 residency graduates. An excerpt from the document’s preamble states, “The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in variable but persistent levels of disruptions of graduate medical education for two years, affecting clinical training for residents and fellows across multiple specialties.”

As a pilot program, the ABR will make a self-assessment tool available to any 2022 residency graduate who would like to participate. Results will not be scored, but those enrolled will receive feedback about whether each question is answered correctly as well as an explanation of the answers and references for further study. This serves as an individual self-assessment tool for 2022 graduates to identify potential gaps in knowledge and application of knowledge.

We anticipate this pilot system to be available for 2022 graduates this summer. Once available, we’ll contact all eligible participants with the details needed to begin using the system.

Anyone with questions should contact an ABR Certification Manager at information@theabr.org or (520) 790-2900.