Maintenance of Certification®

A New Certification Process

The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery's Maintenance of Certification® (MOC) process requires diplomates to pursue a series of educational activities throughout your career, in 10-year cylces, to maintain your Board Certification.

Meeting the Requirements

In general, the 10-year MOC process requires that you:

• Obtain 120 orthopaedic topically related AMA PRA Category 1 Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credits in each of two consecutive 3-year cycles, totalling 240 credits over 6 years
• Include a minimum of 20 credits of Scored and Recorded Self-Assessment Examination(s) within the total 120 CME credits required for each 3-year cycle
• Complete a secure cognitive examination

Start Your Planning Now

• If your certification expires in 2017 or 2018, you should be in the process of earning the requisite CME for the second three years of your current MOC cycle.
• If your certification expires in 2019 or 2020, you should be in the process of earning the requisite CME for the first three years of your current MOC cycle.
• If your certification expires in 2016 or sooner, the ABOS has constructed a unique schedule for you to follow to earn the requisite CME within an abbreviated cycle of recertification. Contact the ABOS at 919-929-7103 or view your MOC timeline at the ABOS web site to learn about your specific requirements and related deadlines.

If you have fewer than 10 years left before your certification expires, please contact the ABOS at 919-929-7103 or view your MOC Timeline on the ABOS web site to learn about your specific requirements.

The Academy Can Help

Obtaining the appropriate amount of CME and preparing for the secure “recertification” examination can be challenging. The Academy is here to help you plan, manage and achieve MOC with comprehensive educational programs and services. To track how much CME you have earned through Academy programs, or to add recently acquired CME from another source, visit your online transcript – an Academy member benefit – at www.aaos.org/transcript.

Scored and Recorded Self-Assessment Resources

Evaluate your knowledge and satisfy the new MOC requirements for Scored and Recorded Self-Assessment with the Academy’s selection of Scored and Recorded Self-Assessment examinations.

CME Resources

To find a vast selection of educational products offering CME, in all clinical areas of orthopaedics, to help you obtain your required total, visit the Academy’s online store. Additionally, the Academy’s OrthoPortal offers hundreds of AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits™ on a wide selection of orthopaedic clinical and non-clinical topics. These free and for sale activities and programs can help fulfill the CME requirements mandated by the ABOS Maintenance of Certification (MOC™) process.

Recertification and Board Exam Preparation Resources

Prepare for your secure examination to successfully achieve MOC with these Academy resources:

• Orthopaedic Knowledge Update 10
• Board Maintenance of Certification Preparation and Review Courses in Boston (November) and in San Francisco (December)
• Comprehensive Orthopaedic Review