ABIM unveils blueprint schedule for subspecialty reviews

The American Board of Internal Medicine has released a schedule that details when subspecialty blueprints will be open to review, according to a press release from the organization.

The blueprints, which are used to create the assessments, will help "to guide the content of the proposed shorter, more frequent assessments as well as the 10-year assessment option."

ABIM has already updated the blueprint for the fall 2015 Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification exam and made available five subspecialty blueprints for review earlier this year.

Seven additional subspecialties are now open for review and are scheduled to close in September:

cardiovascular medicine;
endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism;
medical oncology;
nephrology; and
rheumatology.

Other subspecialties are already opened:

clinical cardiac electrophysiology;
critical care medicine;
gastroenterology;
hematology;
infectious disease;
internal medicine with focused practice in hospital medicine; and
interventional cardiology.

Additional subspecialties are scheduled to open in fall 2016:

geriatric medicine;
hospice & palliative medicine;
pulmonary medicine;
sleep medicine; and
transplant hepatology.

Two more subspecialties are tentatively scheduled to open before the first MOC exams:

advanced heart failure & transplant cardiology in 2018; and
adult congenital heart disease in 2023.

According to the release, during the review process of the blueprints, physicians "rate the relative frequency and importance of individual medical knowledge topics." This allows ABIM to ensure that the MOC assessments are reflective of what knowledge physicians use in practice.

Based on individual physicians’ certifications, they can participate by logging into their account at abim.org.