Ongoing Evolution of Certification Instruments Leads to New DR Oral Exam
By Desiree E. 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.
A few months after joining the ABR Board of Governors, James C. Anderson, MD, Stephen F. Simoneaux, MD, and Karen Ragland Cole, MD, share thoughts on their new volunteer roles.
As the ABR prepares for the return of the Diagnostic Radiology Oral Exam in 2028, ABR Board of Trustees Chair Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD, and Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, explain the value of the oral exam format for testing candidates’ application of knowledge, analysis, and evaluation.
ABR Trustee Kate Maturen, MD, talks about her early days as an ABR volunteer and the mentors who encouraged her along the way to her current role as vice chair for diagnostic radiology.
ABR President-elect John A. Kaufman, MD, MS; Associate Executive Director for Interventional Radiology James B. Spies, MD, MPH; and Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, explain the process by which the ABR has opened channels for stakeholders to comment on whether the current certification process for interventional radiologists is equivalent to diagnostic radiology certification.
ABR Trustee Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, explains the roles and functions of ABR volunteer item-writing committees, with a focus on the Diagnostic Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Exam Committee.
ABR Associate Executive Director for Radiation Oncology Michael Yunes, MD, announces a pilot mentorship and training program to be held this spring in Dallas for RO oral examiners.
While he was studying to be a surgeon, a personal experience with a vascular and interventional radiology procedure led medical student Armaan Mazra, MS, to change his plans and pursue a career in radiology instead.
A combination of academic and clinical work makes ABR volunteer Brian Holly, MD, a perfect fit for the IR/DR Qualifying (Core) Exam item-writing committee.
For Katherine Tzou, MD, an ABR volunteer since 2017, writing items for the Radiation Oncology Qualifying Exam and serving as an oral examiner allows her to give back to the profession and learn from her colleagues, which in turn makes her a better physician.
We remember former ABR President Lee F. Rogers, MD, a distinguished musculoskeletal radiologist and educator who was instrumental in the adoption of ABR subspecialty certification in pediatric radiology, neuroradiology, and vascular and interventional radiology in the early 1990s.
Congratulations to ABR Trustee Anne M. Covey, MD, who has been elected as the RSNA Board Liaison for Public Information and Professionalism, and to ABR Trustee Kalpana Kanal, PhD, who recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Upstate New York Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
Remembering Former ABR President Lee Rogers, MD
By Heather S. Hopkins, ABR Communications Coordinator
2025;18(1):11
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.
Prior to teaching at Northwestern, he was chief of radiology at the 2nd General Army Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and then vice chief of radiology at the U.S. Army Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio.
Dr. Rogers published more than 150 scientific articles, 122 editorials, and four textbooks, and he served as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Roentgenology from 1995 to 2003. Some of his scientific studies led to changes in radiology, most notably his articles in the early 2000s about radiation exposure in children, which led to pediatric radiation doses being significantly reduced.1
A distinguished radiologist with a national and international reputation, Dr. Rogers received Gold Medal awards from the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Association of University Radiologists (now the Association of Academic Radiology), the Chicago Radiology Society, the American Society of Emergency Radiology, and the Radiological Society of North America.
As ABR president, Dr. Rogers helped expand the organization’s subspecialty certification program.2 The nuclear radiology subspecialty had been established in the early 1970s. In 1992, the ABR voted to grant certificates of added qualification (CAQs, now called subspecialty certificates) in neuroradiology, pediatric radiology, and vascular and interventional radiology. The decision ignited controversy, as some radiologists thought subspecialization fragmented the specialty and diluted the value of general board certification.
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) had to grant permission for the ABR to implement the exams and award the certificates, and prior to the ABMS considering the proposal, several state delegations presented resolutions to the ACR opposing the plan. In the opening session of the 1992 ACR meeting, Dr. Rogers gave an impassioned speech about the value of subspecialty certification in enhancing the skills and knowledge of trainees.3
“By granting CAQs, we would ensure competence and give credibility, as perceived by their clinical colleagues, to radiologists practicing these subspecialties,” he said. “We would improve the professional skills and capabilities of trainees by intensifying the learning experience in fellowships. Improved training would result in improved quality of care.”
Former ABR Executive Director Gary J. Becker, MD, said that Dr. Rogers was “the right leader in the right place at the right time. In his now-legendary speech, armed only with the facts and his gift of oratory, he systematically dismantled the case against subspecialization, and in doing so, masterfully turned the tide in favor of the ABR’s plan.”
In the ensuing discussion, state delegations that had been strongly opposed softened their stances, withdrew their objections, and voted in favor, and the ABMS ultimately approved the new subspecialties.
“It would be difficult to overstate how important this was to me,” said Dr. Becker. “I was on the Society of Interventional Radiology (then the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology) Executive Council, in charge of education/training, and had worked closely with the Radiology Residency Review Committee to develop the language of the training requirements for subspecialty certification in vascular and interventional radiology. Lee’s ACR Council oration instantly made him my hero.”
Lee was a multi-dimensional man whose true breadth and depth deserve a fuller description than I can provide in these few lines. His impact will live on in the radiologists he trained and in the many ways he improved the field.”
1Dimmer, O. Remembering influential radiologist Lee Rogers. December 11, 2024. Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine website. https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2024/12/11/remembering-renowned-radiologist-lee-rogers/
2Huckman MS. The lessons of history. Am J Neuroradiol 1993;14(1):1-2. http://www.ajnr.org/content/14/1/1
3Linton, OW. The American Board of Radiology: 75 Years of Serving the Public. The American Board of Radiology. 2009, pp. 119-122, 217-223.
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.
Committee members are typically selected by the committee chair and the Trustee and are appointed initially for a three-year term, with the possibility of reappointment for an additional three-year term. Rarely, a member is extended beyond six years on a committee. It is important to the ABR that each committee member contributes effectively during their years of service. Annual assessments of committee productivity and member contributions help ensure that high-quality exams are created year after year. In selecting committee members from the list of potential volunteers who have applied for and were approved for this role, the committee chair and the DMP Trustee focus on subject matter experts who have close knowledge of the material on which an exam is based.
The annual item-writing cycle for this committee is from January to June. The committee meets virtually several times during the cycle to review, edit, and approve questions to be used for the DMP Qualifying Exam. The volunteer engagement throughout an item-writing cycle is typically many hours of independent work, followed by several committee meetings, and finally a 1.5-day in-person test assembly meeting. An exam is constructed using both new and previously used questions and is reviewed during an end-of-cycle in-person annual meeting in June attended by several committee members and the DMP Trustee. Once the exam is approved by the committee, the DMP Trustee provides a final review and approval.
We express our gratitude not only to the members of this committee, but also to all the medical physics item-writing committees. The ABR’s mission could not be fulfilled without the dedication and expertise of the medical physicists who generously volunteer countless hours to develop, review, and approve the exam questions the ABR uses to certify that all their diplomates demonstrate the requisite knowledge, skill, and understanding of their disciplines to the benefit of patients.
