Several major imaging groups are imploring the American Board of Radiology to devise substitute means of delivering its tests in 2020, rather than postponing them until next year. Absent such an alternative, rads could sustain a “devastating impact” to their careers.
The groups have formed a new effort to aid in their advocacy, called the Multispecialty Early Radiologic Career Coalition. They’re appealing the ABR to either administer tests virtually—as other specialty boards are doing during the pandemic—or at local testing centers around the country. Waiting until 2021 would leave many already vulnerable practices without much needed help from senior residents, the groups wrote Monday.
“This will have a disproportionate and devastating impact on our small and rural residency programs. The absence of senior residents will be felt by our patients, emergency department providers and critical inpatient teams,” groups including the American College of Radiology Resident and Fellow Section and RSNA's similar R&F Committee wrote to ABR leadership Monday.
The Board of Radiology first announced on June 3 that it was opting to push back most of its exams—slated to take place in Tucson, Arizona, and Chicago—until 2021. In a follow-up statement posted to its website Friday, the ABR shed further light on why it's been resisting calls for change during the pandemic.
Testing centers such as Pearson VUE and Prometric do not currently have the “technical capability” to deliver diagnostic radiology exams. And they “have not been interested in developing those capabilities when we have inquired repeatedly over several years,” wrote ABR President Vincent Mathews, MD.
On the virtual side, the board is now “actively exploring” and collaborating with other American Board of Medical Specialties groups to “evaluate options.”
“Currently, we have no reliable, secure option for a high-stakes exam such as the initial certifying exams that we deliver,” Mathews added. “We are aware that the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Ophthalmology have announced they will give virtual oral exams in 2020. Their exams are different than ours, and they have not validated the ability to use radiologic images in those exams.”
Radiologists have taken to social media over the past week to voice their displeasure with the current state of affairs in rad certification. Radiation oncologist Laura Dover, MD, for one, said she created a Twitter account to share her predicament. She said the 2020 ABR oral exam was rescheduled to four days after her due date and is concerned about juggling new motherhood and test-taking.
“We do not want an easier exam. We do not want a free pass. As constituents who pay equal annual dues, we want an equal opportunity to demonstrate our years-in-the-making competencies in order to earn board certification in an equal, fair, and timely manner,” she tweeted Sunday night.
The newly formed Multispecialty Early Radiologic Career Coalition shared its letter to ABR leaders on Monday over Twitter using the hashtag #HearUsABR, with the initial posting garnering 39 retweets and 44 likes in the first hour. MERCC members also specifically mentioned pregnancy and radiologist wellness as facets of their concerns. “This issue disproportionately affects females and further exacerbates our profession’s ability to strive toward a diverse and inclusive workforce,” they added.
They’re suggesting virtual or in-person local and regional testing and are hoping for clarity from the Board of Radiology soon, with exams administered in some fashion by fall 2020. To get there, they want the board to “engage trainees and early career physicians in open dialogue to come to a collaborative solution.”
“At this point, it is impossible to predict the course of this pandemic and continued delays are not a sustainable plan. We strongly urge the ABR to reconsider their decision and work on implementing a temporary distributed exam,” they concluded.
You can read more about the American Board of Radiology and concerns about its maintenance of certification program in the latest issue of Radiology Business Journal.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.