February 2025 | Volume 18, Issue 1
ABR CFO Svetlana Pitman captured these two greater roadrunners sharing a grub from her patio in Tucson, Arizona.
Ongoing Evolution of Certification Instruments Leads to New DR Oral Exam
By Desiree Morgan, MD, ABR Governor
2025;18(1):1
It is remarkable to me that over 12 million questions have been answered by ABR diplomates in the five years that Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA) for Continuing Certification has been employed. The major upheaval in operations and infrastructure that the OLA program demanded of the ABR is mirrored in the activity that is going on now behind the scenes to bring on the New Diagnostic Radiology Oral Exam. Scheduled to begin in 2028, it will be remotely administered like the certifying exams of the three other ABR disciplines, and its resurgence in a new form is a testament to the ongoing evolution of certification instruments as our disciplines and practices evolve. I hope you enjoy reading different perspectives pertaining to the new DR Oral Exam — from the priorities of our newest members of the Board of Governors to the inspiration and impact on our volunteers, the oral certifying exam process is at the forefront of the minds of many.
In this issue . . .
ABR President Cheri L. Canon, MD, Administrative and Exam Support Manager Kinsey SmithWright, and Communications Director David Laszakovits, MBA, discuss the benefits of ABR representatives attending major professional society meetings to connect in person with stakeholders.
ABR Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, describes how remote exam security guarantees a fair assessment of examinees’ knowledge and skills.
Click HERE to read more.
Attending In-Person Society Meetings Creates Better Connections with Stakeholders
By Cheri L. Canon, MD, ABR President; Kinsey SmithWright, ABR Administrative and Exam Support Manager; and David Laszakovits, MBA, ABR Communications Director
2025;18(1):2
The ABR has expanded communications with our candidates and diplomates over recent years, including blogs, The Beam, and expanded content on our website. Our Board of Governors has emphasized the need for increased clarity and transparency of the information we share.
One of the less obvious communication channels is our frequent presence at major professional society meetings. Representatives from ABR Certification Services or Administration are available at a table or booth in the exhibit space at meetings of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), Association of Academic Radiology (AAR), American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR), and several American College of Radiology (ACR) chapters. Engaging in dialogue with accomplished leaders in the field, trainees from a wide range of residency programs, and practitioners from diverse communities allows us to answer questions about ABR programs and policies and to identify opportunities for improving our standard communications.
Click HERE to read more.
Remote Exam Security Ensures Fair Representation of Candidates’ Knowledge
2025;18(1):3
When the ABR began offering remote exams in 2021, their development and implementation were based on the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are several practical advantages of remote exams for our candidates and diplomates; most importantly, enabling them to avoid the expense and inconvenience of traveling to an exam center. We remain committed to offering remote exams indefinitely, but we acknowledge that it comes with an imperative to require a secure local testing environment for examinees.
We believe our candidates for certification are very comfortable with technology in general; however, the model for our computer-based exams is unavoidably novel because it requires the user to comply with unfamiliar elements that contribute to a secure environment. The process includes setting up an appropriately positioned side-view camera, demonstrating that the workspace is free of study or reference materials, and pausing the software during a break in a way that does not tempt the examinee to return to alter answers to previously viewed content.
Click HERE to read more.
New Governors Share First Impressions
2025;18(1):4
In our last issue, we heard from the ABR Trustees who joined the Board in September 2024. This month, we asked new members of the ABR Board of Governors (BOG) to tell us about their experiences. Below are their answers to the following questions:
- What made you interested in being on the Board of Governors?
- What did you think about your first board meeting?
- What do you see as the ABR’s priorities moving forward?
- There are multiple reasons. I have known several former members who all described being on the Board as a meaningful and impactful part of their career. Personally, having served as chair of the Residency Review Committee for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in radiology during the development of the training pathways for interventional radiology (IR), I was interested in providing that historical knowledge and background to BOG discussions and decisions. My role as a former program director and service on the Association of Program Directors in Radiology executive board gives me perspective into the current move to the Diagnostic Radiology (DR) Oral Exam, which I also think is important for the BOG to have represented. I feel that the BOG is responsive to the needs of the radiology community.
Click HERE to read more.
Oral Exam Format Highly Valuable for Assessing Candidates
By Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD, ABR Board of Trustees Chair, and Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, ABR Executive Director
2025;18(1):5
The ABR mission includes assessment of knowledge in the four radiologic disciplines (diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, medical physics, and radiation oncology). Various exam models are used by medical certifying boards; the ABR employs a multiple-choice format for the qualifying exams (typically taken during training) and an oral exam for the certifying exam (offered after completion of training). Radiation oncology, medical physics, and interventional radiology have used certifying oral exams for decades. Following a hiatus of approximately 15 years, diagnostic radiology will return to an oral exam in 2028.
Since 2021, the ABR oral exam platform has used a videoconference format that includes screen-sharing for relevant images. The session allows a one-on-one discussion between the examiner and the candidate. Each candidate interacts with four to eight examiners (depending on the specific discipline) who individually commit to a score on their portion of the exam. The group of examiners who interacted with an individual candidate during an exam session subsequently arrive at a decision (pass, fail, or conditional pass) together. The process allows for minor shortcomings in one area to be offset by exceptional performance in other sessions when the final decision is made.
Click HERE to read more.
ABR Trustee Follows Mentors to Leadership Role on Board
By Kate Maturen, MD, ABR Trustee
2025;18(1):6
In late 2024, I had the distinct honor of succeeding Stephen Simoneaux, MD, as vice chair for diagnostic radiology (DR) on the ABR Board of Trustees (BOT). An eminent pediatric radiologist and ABR volunteer of many decades, Steve will take his signature good humor and practical wisdom to the Board of Governors (BOG) in 2025. Congratulations, Steve, and thank you for your service to the BOT!
I was a new faculty member at the University of Michigan in 2010. About five minutes after receiving my ID badge and pager, I was recruited as an ABR volunteer. My department chair, Reed Dunnick, MD, (former ABR Trustee, board president, and associate executive director) asked me to write GU items for the DR Certifying Exam, then in gestation. The process of winding down the “Old Orals” had begun, and the new written exam was known as the “Exam of the Future.” Reed was and is a terrific mentor, and his enthusiasm for ABR volunteering was truly infectious. Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, (current ABR executive director) was my engaging committee chair, and the die was cast. I was to be an ABR lifer.
Click HERE to read more.
Stakeholders Weigh In on IR/DR Certification Model
By John A. Kaufman, MD, MS, ABR President-elect; James B. Spies, MD, MPH, ABR Associate Executive Director for Interventional Radiology; and Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, ABR Executive Director
2025;18(1):7
The Diagnostic Radiology Certifying Exam will be changing to an oral format in 2028. This past August, the ABR announced that it had retained a third-party healthcare communication and marketing firm to facilitate discussions with key stakeholder groups, including professional societies and program director organizations, regarding the current Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology (IR/DR) Certifying Exam. The goal was to solicit opinions and concerns about whether the certification process for IR/DR is perceived to be sufficiently equivalent to DR certification, especially as it relates to the diagnostic elements that may be a significant part of the clinical practice of those who have earned an IR/DR certificate. ABR leadership expressly stated that our role in these initial steps would be active listening and that we had not come to any conclusions about the adequacy of the status quo , existing perceptions of the interventional radiology community, the full range of challenges of the current testing paradigm, or potential solutions if change is deemed necessary.
The process included approximately 30 remote interviews, an optional online survey that gathered opinions from association and society members, and nine online focus groups.1
Click HERE to read more.
Diagnostic Medical Physics Qualifying Exam Committee’s Expertise Results in Fair and Relevant Exams
By Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, ABR Trustee
2025;18(1):8
One of the key functions of ABR medical physics volunteers is to write questions for exams. This includes not only questions for medical physics exams, but also physics questions for exams given to candidates in the three other ABR disciplines: diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology, and radiation oncology. For question-writing purposes, volunteers are organized into committees according to their expertise.
For certification in medical physics, the ABR administers two computer-based qualifying exams, followed by an oral certifying exam. The eligibility requirements and timelines for each exam can be found here. The MP exams are:
- Part 1 qualifying exams – general and clinical parts that can be taken together or separately.
- Part 2 qualifying exam specific to diagnostic medical physics (DMP), nuclear medical physics (NMP), or therapeutic medical physics (TMP).
- Part 3 oral certifying exam specific to DMP, NMP or TMP.
Committees of medical physicist volunteers develop content for each exam. Each committee has approximately 10 members who are subject matter experts, along with a chair who is responsible for the committee’s activities. An associate chair is chosen during the chair’s last year on the committee to ensure a seamless transition to new leadership. Each committee is assigned two ABR staff exam developers who provide administrative assistance. This article will focus on the DMP Part 2 Qualifying Exam Committee.
Click HERE to read more.
New Oral Examiner Event Offers Enhanced Mentorship and Training
By Michael Yunes, MD, ABR Associate Executive Director of Radiation Oncology
2025;18(1):9
The ABR Radiation Oncology Oral Certifying Exam (CE) is often considered the most stressful and difficult experience in the long and arduous journey to independent practice. The purpose of the CE is to assess a candidate’s clinical skills and judgment and to ensure that they are competent to practice independently for the benefit of patients. The ABR is passionate about providing a robust process that represents a credible assessment of knowledge and understanding of radiation oncology and mitigates the stress of the experience for the candidate. To that end, we will be piloting a model of examiner mentorship and training this spring.
During a CE, examiners ask candidates questions while progressing through various aspects of multiple cases, which may include patient history and physical exam, pathologic diagnosis, multidisciplinary discussion, and treatment decisions. Ultimately, the questions focus on radiation treatment and all associated activities.
The case selection is carefully curated and standardized between each exam. It includes a wide range of questions for each category, allowing examinees to fully demonstrate their knowledge as well as providing an opportunity for them to potentially recover if their performance on one case is suboptimal. Balancing each category, case, and exam involves a multilevel process that begins well over a year before the exam is delivered and continues until the results are submitted.
Click HERE to read more.
Change of Plans Sends Aspiring Resident Down VIR Path
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2025;18(1):10
When he started at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Armaan Mazra, MS, had a goal: In 2025, he would be matching into a surgical residency, possibly orthopedic surgery.
“I joined almost every surgical Interest group I could because I didn’t have a lot of perspective on medicine, family members in medicine, or general exposure,” he said. “I went pretty gung-ho about it.”
Once he started scrubbing in to assist orthopedic surgery procedures in his second year, his interests started to shift. He wasn’t enjoying the process.
“I was pretty open to change into a specialty that better aligned with my interests and values,” he said.
By his third year, he had found his new direction: vascular and interventional radiology. It was a field that he knew little about until his mother needed a VIR procedure.
The experience sent him down a different career path.
“I saw from the patient’s perspective how VIR can offer procedures to people who may not be candidates for surgery,” Armaan said. “I was moved by the hope that it offered.”
Click HERE to read more.
Johns Hopkins Job and Baltimore Sports Make Volunteer a Happy Marylander
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2025;18(1):11
During the NFL season, Brian Holly, MD, and a few of his colleagues at Johns Hopkins get together the day after Baltimore Ravens’ games to talk about the outcome.
He jokingly calls it “solving all of the team’s problems.”
“He’s a very passionate Ravens fan,” said Robert Liddell, MD, director of interventional radiology and an associate professor of radiology and radiological sciences at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “We bond over sports, as do a lot of our trainees. It’s another opportunity to diffuse things and allow people to be people and take the academic and the medical side of things out.”
Dr. Holly is part of a winning team of his own. As the interventional radiology integrated residency program director and assistant professor of radiology and radiological science, he’s the trainees’ equivalent of Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
“As a program director, you want the best for your trainees,” said Dr. Holly, who also writes IR/DR Qualifying (Core) Exam questions as an ABR volunteer. “You want them to be successful.”
Click HERE to read more.
After Considering Oceanography, She’s Making a Splash in Radiation Oncology
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2025;18(1):12
With two older sisters planning to go into medicine, young Katherine Tzou was looking for a separate career.
“Because I’m the youngest and wanted to be different, I thought there was no way I was going into medicine,” she said. “I was going to be an oceanographer.”
Instead, the seas parted, and life changed for the future Dr. Tzou. As a teenager, she volunteered at a nursing home and at the VA Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, where her dad was the chief biochemist.
Her eyes were opened.
“I enjoy working with patients and working in teams,” said Dr. Tzou, who earned her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “That’s what led me to say, ‘Maybe it’s in my genes. Maybe I’m destined to pursue medicine.’”
Her sisters are cardiologists and Dr. Tzou is a radiation oncologist, specializing in GU and GYN malignancies. She’s an associate professor at University of Colorado Medicine and sees patients at Memorial Hospitals North and Central in Colorado Springs.
Click HERE to read more.
Remembering Former ABR President Lee Rogers, MD
By Heather S. Hopkins, ABR Communications Coordinator
2025;18(1):13
Lee F. Rogers, MD, died November 28, 2024, in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 90. A musculoskeletal radiologist, Dr. Rogers was professor emeritus and former chair of radiology at Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine. A lifelong educator, he led the Northwestern Department of Radiology for 22 years.
Dr. Rogers was a member of the ABR Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1995 and was ABR president from 1992 to 1994. Between 1971 and 1995, he served as an oral examiner 33 times.
“Dr. Rogers was a luminary musculoskeletal imager who will be remembered by many diplomates for his two-volume textbook, Radiology of Skeletal Trauma,” said former ABR Governor and Board of Trustees Chair Donald J. Flemming, MD, “but his passion for education and his generous sharing of time and wisdom will never be forgotten by those who were blessed to work with him. His quote, ‘Don’t let the fear of being wrong rob you of the joy of being right’ is one that I share with trainees on a regular basis, because it so nicely addresses our shared struggle with uncertainty.”
Born in Vermont in 1934, Dr. Rogers earned his bachelor’s degree in 1956 and his medical degree in 1959, both from Northwestern, then completed a residency in radiology at Fitzsimons General Hospital Army Medical Center. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1959 and advanced to major in 1967.
Click HERE to read more.
OLA Tips and Reminders for 2025
By David Laszakovits, MBA, ABR Communications Director, and Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, ABR Executive Director
2025;18(1):14
Diplomates have answered more than 12 million OLA questions since the platform was introduced in 2019. In the first few weeks of 2025, more than 94% of diplomates with a December 31, 2025, Part 3 deadline have already met that five-year requirement. While this is a big accomplishment, it’s important that diplomates continue answering OLA questions to reach their required minimum (for most diplomates, 52 questions per year).
Here are a few other important OLA reminders participants should keep in mind early in the year.
Staying on Pace Is Important
Since two questions are offered to most participants every week, 104 are available to be answered each year. To meet the annual progress requirement, most diplomates need to answer only half, or 52 questions per year. Furthermore, OLA allows substantial flexibility regarding when diplomates answer questions, as items do not expire until four weeks after they are offered.
Click HERE to read more.
Trustee Elected to RSNA Board as Liaison for Public Information and Professionalism
2025;18(1):15
ABR Trustee Anne M. Covey, MD, has been elected as the RSNA Board Liaison for Public Information and Professionalism.
An ABR volunteer since 2007, Dr. Covey is an interventional radiologist and professor of radiology in New York City at Weill Cornell Medical College and an attending radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she has practiced since 2000.
Dr. Covey earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. She completed an internship, residency in diagnostic radiology, and fellowship in vascular interventional radiology and diagnostic imaging at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.
She has been board certified since 1999.
Trustee Receives AAPM Lifetime Achievement Award
2025;18(1):16
ABR Trustee Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, recently earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Upstate New York Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. This award is given to an individual who has made lifelong and lasting contributions to medical physics.
Dr. Kanal has worked in the department of radiology at the University of Washington since 2000 and is a professor and director of the diagnostic physics section as well as program director for the imaging physics residency program and chair of the radiation safety committee.
She earned her MS degree from the University of Texas Arlington in 1991 and her PhD in radiological sciences from the UT Health Science Center, San Antonio in 1996. Dr. Kanal has been an ABR Trustee since 2017.
She has been board certified since 1999.
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Trustee Elected to RSNA Board as Liaison for Public Information and Professionalism
2025;18(1):15
ABR Trustee Anne M. Covey, MD, has been elected as the RSNA Board Liaison for Public Information and Professionalism.
An ABR volunteer since 2007, Dr. Covey is an interventional radiologist and professor of radiology in New York City at Weill Cornell Medical College and an attending radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she has practiced since 2000.
Dr. Covey earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. She completed an internship, residency in diagnostic radiology, and fellowship in vascular interventional radiology and diagnostic imaging at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.
She has been board certified since 1999.
Trustee Receives AAPM Lifetime Achievement Award
2025;18(1):16
ABR Trustee Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, recently earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Upstate New York Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. This award is given to an individual who has made lifelong and lasting contributions to medical physics.
Dr. Kanal has worked in the department of radiology at the University of Washington since 2000 and is a professor and director of the diagnostic physics section as well as program director for the imaging physics residency program and chair of the radiation safety committee.
She earned her MS degree from the University of Texas Arlington in 1991 and her PhD in radiological sciences from the UT Health Science Center, San Antonio in 1996. Dr. Kanal has been an ABR Trustee since 2017.
She has been board certified since 1999.
After Considering Oceanography, She’s Making a Splash in Radiation Oncology
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager
2025;18(1):12
With two older sisters planning to go into medicine, young Katherine Tzou was looking for a separate career.
“Because I’m the youngest and wanted to be different, I thought there was no way I was going into medicine,” she said. “I was going to be an oceanographer.”
Instead, the seas parted, and life changed for the future Dr. Tzou. As a teenager, she volunteered at a nursing home and at the VA Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, where her dad was the chief biochemist.
Her eyes were opened.
“I enjoy working with patients and working in teams,” said Dr. Tzou, who earned her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “That’s what led me to say, ‘Maybe it’s in my genes. Maybe I’m destined to pursue medicine.’”
Her sisters are cardiologists and Dr. Tzou is a radiation oncologist, specializing in GU and GYN malignancies. She’s an associate professor at University of Colorado Medicine and sees patients at Memorial Hospitals North and Central in Colorado Springs.
She’s been an ABR volunteer since 2017, writing questions for the Radiation Oncology Qualifying Exam and serving as an oral examiner. Just five years out of training, Dr. Tzou took a cautious approach to her first assignment.
“I still remember that first set of questions,” she said. “I think they asked for six questions that year, and I think I wrote something like 12 because I wanted to have backups. I was anxious about it, but then once I got into it, everyone was so kind, and it was helpful to hear what other people were asking.”
She obviously caught on. David Gaffney, PhD, MD, the chair of Dr. Tzou’s Radiation Oncology Qualifying GYN Committee, calls her a “committed, capable, creative, intelligent, and brilliant question writer.”
Dr. Tzou’s initial experience as an ABR oral examiner came in spring 2021, the first remote oral exam adminstration during the pandemic. She said the experience has been invaluable.
“It has helped me grow as a physician in my own practice,” she said. “Because I do it twice a year, I’m constantly looking for new data and talking with experts in the field. It’s been such a wonderful experience. One of my favorite things that I do is volunteer for the ABR.”
Volunteering for the ABR gives Dr. Tzou a chance to give back to her profession and learn from colleagues. She has found that discussions go beyond the subjects at hand.
“GYN is such a small group, so you don’t commonly find someone who wants to talk about it,” she said. “The beauty of the ABR is that you’re finding your people, talking about cases, learning from each other and how to improve care for your patients, discussing your life, and developing friendships beyond just work. It’s really wonderful.”
As a physician who’s involved in both GU and GYN, Dr. Tzou has her feet in two subspecialties. Her attraction to GYN started from a solid foundation of knowledge during residency at Mayo Clinic Florida was solidified during an away rotation at Washington University in St. Louis, when she did approximately 50 cases in a month.
“I learned I really enjoy doing procedures,” she said. “I am honored that patients allow me to care for them during a very vulnerable time and in a very sensitive area. Because of the procedures I do, I get to know my patients and their families and friends on a deeper level.”
She stayed on at Mayo after completing her residency in 2012, eventually becoming an associate professor of radiation oncology. It was there that she became interested in GU; one of her mentors had a high volume of cases and asked her to assist.
“I got into it and enjoyed it,” Dr. Tzou said. “It was somewhat parallel to what I was doing with my GYN patients.”
Going into medicine wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Dr. Tzou’s calling was different from those of her sisters, but the goal remains the same.
“I am fortunate that my family taught me to work hard, always strive to improve, and treat everyone as equals,” she said. “My mentors and residency taught me we are put on this earth to take care of each other. Whether that’s your colleague or a patient or a family member, that’s the most important thing. That’s what makes me stay late or come in early. If we always try to do the right thing for our patients and for each other, we can make the world a more compassionate place. What’s more gratifying than that?”
