American Board of Pathology Maintenance of Certification: The American Board of Pathology has committed to participating in a Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. As of January 1, 2006, all primary and subspecialty certificates issued by the ABP are time-limited and expire on December 31, ten years after they are issued. The MOC process must be completed no later than 10 years after a certificate is awarded, and may be completed as early as the eighth year. Certain parts of the MOC process have deadlines that must be met at specific times during the 10 year cycle. The APB website - www.abpath.org - has more information. It is likely that state societies and third party payers will expect to see evidence of MOC even for physicians certified by the ABP before 2006. Each diplomate must have 70 Category 1 CME credits over each 2-year reporting cycle within the 10-year certification period. At least 20 of these Category 1 credits must be SAMs. To qualify as a SAM, the educational offering must include a self- administered examination and the diplomate must meet a minimum performance level, for example a 75 or 80% pass rate. SAMs waived through 2009 (Excerpt from American Board of Pathology website (abpath.org): At its May 2008 meeting, the American Board of Pathology voted to waive Part II MOC requirements for SAMs through 2009). Click here to learn more about USCAP's SAM offerings from Dr. Fred Silva, former USCAP Executive Vice President. Click here to learn more about Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements from Dr. Betsy Bennett, Executive Vice President of the American Board of Pathology. Excerpt from American Board of Pathology website (abpath.org): At its May 2008 meeting, the American Board of Pathology voted to waive Part II MOC requirements for SAMs through 2009. Diplomates with time-limited certificates are still required to obtain 70 Category 1 CME credits over each 2-year reporting cycle within the 10-year certification period. At least 20 of these Category 1 credits must be SAMs. The ABP encourages all diplomates to participate in SAMs where these are available in your area of practice and if you take CME with SAM credits, you may of course submit these as part of your Part II requirement; however, you will not be required to submit SAMs as part of your MOC requirements until 2010 However, some third party payers and state medical societies, etc. may require evidence of self-assessment in CME before then, especially for pathologists certified prior to 2006. The USCAP is committed to meeting all your future CME and SAM needs. According to the ABP "The USCAP has the most extensive offering of SAMs at this time and a link is available to these from their home page. They will be adding a large number of online SAMs courses" in the near future. A benefit of membership is that your Online Member Portfolio will maintain permanent records of CME and/or SAM credits earned through USCAP offerings. All USCAP meetings and courses offer both CME and SAMs. NOTE: As a benefit of membership, USCAP will report your CME and SAM credits for Maintenance of Certification as requested by the American Board of Pathology, unless you opt out of this service by calling the office at 706-733-7550. Self-Assessment Modules (SAMs) Offered by the USCAP The USCAP is accredited by the American Board of Pathology to offer Self-Assessment Modules (SAMs) for the purpose of meeting the American Board of Pathology requirements for Maintenance of Certification. Each diplomate must have 70 Category 1 CME credits over each 2-year reporting cycle within the 10-year certification period. At least 20 of these Category 1 credits must be SAMs. To earn SAM credits, registrants must take and pass (80% correct required) an online post-test for each of the offerings listed below. These SAM offerings address the following ACGME competency: "b. Medical Knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (e.g. epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care". USCAP Courses Offering SAM Credits Diagnostic Cytopathology - Maximum of 18.75 CME/16.75 SAM credit hours January 19 – 21, 2013, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, Louisiana USCAP Annual Meeting - Companion Symposia, Specialty Conferences, Short Courses Total of 53.5 CME/48.5 SAM credits offered. March 2-8, 2013, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, MD Practical Pathology Seminars - Maximum of 15 CME/15 SAM credit hours May 2-5, 2013, Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, CA Diagnostic Pathology Update July 14-19, 2013, Captain Cook Hotel, Anchorage, AK Online Education: Stay ahead of the ABP Maintenence of Certification requirements necessary for all pathologists certified in 2006 and beyond; and no matter when you were certified, you will need to fortify your standing with hospitals and other third-party payers with evidence of self-assessment. Receive up to one hour per APECS case of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ to meet your CME or ABP approved Self-Assessment Module (SAM) needs. Earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ from hundreds of hours of audio-synchronized PowerPoint presentations from the USCAP meetings over the past two years in the eLibrary of Courses. Meet Part II requirements by building and maintaining your record of Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment activities in your online USCAP portfolio. Meet Part IV requirements by applying appropriate protocols, outcome measurements, and practice pesly measure your performance with others who have taken that case. A sample case is available for you to preview, and is also accessible via the USCAP website. On the right of the homepage, look under the Bulletin... eAcademy... Sample APECs case. Subscription information is available at USCAP eAcademy website.