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AGA Proposes Recertification Process Based on Active Learning

Issue: October 2015

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The AGA has proposed an alternative pathway to recertification, called The Gastroenterologist: Accountable Professionalism in Practice, or G-APP, which replaces the high-stakes testing of the current maintenance of certification process with “active, adaptive, self-directed learning modules that allow for continuous feedback,” according to a press release.

The AGA has shared their proposal with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), which administrates the current maintenance of certification process. This process “has drawn ire from the medical community for not meeting physician needs,” and the AGA awaits feedback from the ABIM, AGA members and medical society leaders, the release said.

Michael Camilleri

“There is now a greater emphasis than ever before on disease pathways, clinical guidelines and quality improvement, making it important for physicians to remain current with newer recommendations and practice standards,” Michael Camilleri, MD, AGAF, president of the AGA Institute, said in the press release. “Maintaining certification should be a process of active learning, not high-stakes testing. AGA supports continuous education and professional development that enhances patient care. We want to work with ABIM and other partners to improve the recertification process.”

According to the release, the G-APP process includes individual self-assessment pathways allowing physicians to show high competency in some areas and general competency in others. These pathways will replace the high-stakes examination required every 10 years with individualized self-assessment activities from which physicians can receive continuous feedback and learning opportunities. G-APP will also award credit to physicians for what they are doing in practice, research or teaching, and the pathway is based on the same principles of competency used for training fellows to care for patients independently, the release said.

“AGA does not expect the recertification process to change overnight, but we are getting the conversation started in a substantial, meaningful way that’s based on solid precepts of adult learning theory,” Suzanne Rose, MD, MSEd, AGAF, councillor to the AGA Institute Governing Board and chair of AGA’s Task Force on maintenance of certification. “Adults learn best when education is individualized, tailored to their needs and problem based — which in active medical practice translates to patient-centered. AGA embraces an ideal pathway of continuous professional development within these paradigms as an alternative to the current recertification process.”

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