Pediatric MOC Part 2 : Laughing Your Way

As of the previous blog, I obtained a total of 30 Part 2 points. These were achieved relatively painlessly.

10 Points: General Knowledge 2013 General Pediatrics Comprehensive Knowledge Self-assessment

For this activity there was no minimum score required and was very painless

20 Points: 2013 General Pediatrics Decision Skills Self-assessment

In this activity there was a minimum number of points that WAS required. However, this activity contained sections that were relevant to clinical practice AND appears to be helpful in preparing for the Part 3 Prometric Exam. I would go ahead an classify this as relatively painless, especially since as noted in our previous blog you can take your time to search the interweb for the answers. I will note here that after going through this process the ABP really designed this portion to help you out.

A minimum of 40 Part 2 points is needed to meet the requirement and completing these activities brought me to 30 points. So, I needed 10 more points. Be careful though, many of the Part 2 activities are not so painless since you are required to get a minimal number correct to get your points.

You are permitted to retake any one of these tests but be warned, you only get one shot at retaking it. And for these activities, you have to actually know the subject well or be willing to read the material that accompanies these activities. Most of the self-assessment topics are subspecialty based, and quite esoteric for those who are not in that field, and possibly esoteric and boring even to those in that subspecialty. This wasn't going to work for me! I don't mind earning my points and learning but I want it to be material that is relevant to the work I do as a General Pediatrician.

So there I was in search of user friendly and hopefully relevant activities where I could either get the answers based on my current fund of knowledge and/or would find it easy to read up on the correct answers (which of course is the goal of the Pediatric MOC / recertification process anyway).

So I decided to check out the American Academy of Pediatrics PREP Self Assessment Questions that are also approved for MOC as well as CME credit.

First you have to get there by clicking here and assuming you are a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and registered with the PREP program, you log in under your username and password.

You should click onto the "CME tab" rather than the "MOC tab".

Now you will be faced with 2 radio button "Mode" options

1) Learning

2) Exam

Fortunately, the correct mode is the one that is also the default mode: LEARNING

This is the mode that must be selected and submitted in order to get the MOC Credit

Sometimes it pays to be paranoid. I did call and confirm that "learning mode" was the correct mode. I also wanted to confirm that the minimal score required was 80%.

While they did confirm that 80% correct was required to be eligible for MOCCredit this requirement did not apply to the 2011 PREP Self-Assessment.

Therefore, completion of the 2011 AAP: Prep Self Assessment Questions does not require a minimal number correct to get MOC or CME credit.

You can get 0% correct or 100% correct and this is not reported to the ABP. The AAP only reports that you have completed the activity. (Of course this means anyone can fulfill this obligation, even Hodor from HBO's "Game of Thrones" could complete this activity if placed in front of the keyboard.)

I would like to point out that this is not consistent with the spirit of this MOC activity and we are in no way encouraging it. Such a casual and meaningless approach is not the intended goal of the ABP. However, it is refreshing and less stressful to know that you can go through this exercise and actually learn without worrying if you will get the MOC / CME points.

Since there is no minimum, this was an excellent painless method to obtain 20 Part 2 Points

Although, as they say on TV, this offer is for a limited time only. This gift, (20 Part 2 points, regardless of the number you answer correctly) must be completed before December 31, 2013.

I personally recommend the 2011 PREP Pediatric Self Assessment as one of the activities for your 20 points and that is exactly what I did, and am now the proud owner of 20 additional points..

My total Part 2 Points is now : 50

10 Points : General Knowledge : 2013 General Pediatrics Comprehensive Knowledge Self-assessment

20 Points : 2013 General Pediatrics Decision Skills Self-assessment

plus

20 Points 2011 PREP Self-Assessment

Thankfully, I have fulfilled my Part 2 Point requirement with 10 points to spare. Now, the 20 additional points out of the 100 total can come from Part 2. So I have 10 points toward this flexible requirement.

My new search is to find an additional painless way to obtain 10 more Part 2 Credits. At this point I have decided to go with Part 2 points since Part 4 Performance in Practice is still an unknown process. So my search for continues.

I also have to enroll and register for my Cognitive Expertise - Secure Exam (Part 3) exam at a local Prometics (R) center . I wish to take this exam before July 1, since you cannot take the exam during the months of July and August and I wish to have a margin of error in case I have to take the exam again, in the fall i.e. I don't pass the first time.

Next blog I will have an update on my search for 10 more Part 2 points. Also, I will update all of you on the process of registering for the Prometrics test and the real rate limiting step which is actually committing to an exam date. I hope you find this blog series helpful. Feel free to contact me with any questions via email or commenting below.