Maintaining certification is something that every medical oncologist should be concerned about when he or she gets a certificate; at least those who were certified in 1990 and after. All medical oncologists certified in 1990 must renew their certification through the program of the American Council for Internal Medicine MOC. MOC encourages continuous learning of knowledge and skills through self-assessment, training and peer assessment. MOC is mainly focused on providing patients with the highest quality of service and care for our current knowledge, skills and technology.
CME or continuing medical education is an integral part of MOC. This is one of many tools that help the MOC program achieve its goals. With the help of CME, oncologists can keep abreast of the latest discoveries in the field of oncology and all related fields that will help them in their practice. The MOC program for clinical oncology basically has three requirements:
1. All MOC applicants retain a good, permanent license to practice without any restrictions. He or she must perform all applicable procedures to meet the needs of patients.
2. Earn a total of 100 CME points in two categories of self-assessment: 20 points for medical knowledge, 20 points for doing the practice and 60 points for the practice, medical knowledge, or both.
3. Successfully pass a safe inspection.
Two categories of self-esteem:
1. Self-assessment of medical knowledge. ASCO offers six modules on medical knowledge: breast cancer, cancer prevention, general oncology, lung cancer, urogenital cancer and gastrointestinal cancer. Each module has 20-30 questions and offers 2 CME credits for each module. There are several other modules that third-party CME vendors offer.
2. Self-assessment of the effectiveness of the practice. This area of self-assessment provides oncologists with the opportunity to test their skills and knowledge based on their clinical effectiveness. The quality initiative offered by ASCO is the only approved ABIM program. Completion of this particular program gives the candidate 20 CME points in self-assessment practice. There is another option to complete this area of self-esteem if you do not have direct or indirect access to patient care - the “Quality Improvement Basics” module. However, you must confirm that you do not have the direct and indirect responsibility of the patient and complete the characteristic nature of the practice.
When we took our oath to serve people as doctors, we took that oath with the silent promise that we would constantly strive for excellence; especially when it comes to patient care. CME and MOC are the two best ways to fulfill this promise.
