What is Maintenance of Certification?

In an effort to assure the public that board-certified specialists have remained current with evolving knowledge, that their practices meet acceptable standards, and that they are recognized and respected as specialists by their patients and peers, the 24 Member Boards of ABMS agreed to evolve their recertification programs to one of continuous professional development – ABMS Maintenance of Certification® (ABMS MOC®). ABMS MOC assures that the physician is committed to lifelong learning and competency in a specialty and/or subspecialty. The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) and the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR) are dedicated to upholding these competencies and fostering life-long learning in support of the MOC program requirements.

The ABPMR and the American Academy of PM&R are not related and the Academy has no role in setting MOC standards or guidelines. The Academy seeks only to provide products and services to help physicians meet the requirements set forth by the ABPMR.

The MOC process is founded on six core competencies for quality patient care. These core competencies, as described below, were first adopted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and later the ABMS in 1999.

Core Competencies (as defined by the ABPMR):

• Patient Care - Provide care that is compassionate, appropriate and effective treatment for health problems and to promote health
• Medical Knowledge - Demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical and cognate sciences and their application in patient care.
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills - Demonstrate skills that result in effective information exchange and teaming with patients, their families and professional associates (e.g. fostering a therapeutic relationship that is ethically sound, uses effective listening skills with non-verbal and verbal communication; working as both a team member and at times as a leader).
• Professionalism - Demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles and sensitivity to diverse patient populations.
• Systems-based Practice - Demonstrate awareness of and responsibility to larger context and systems of healthcare. Be able to call on system resources to provide optimal care (e.g. coordinating care across sites or serving as the primary case manager when care involves multiple specialties, professions or sites).
• Practice-based Learning and Improvement - Investigate and evaluate their patient care practices, appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and improve their practice of medicine. For more detailed information regarding Maintenance of Certification, please visit the following links:

For more detailed information regarding Maintenance of Certification, please visit the following links:

American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)

• Homepage
• About ABMS Maintenance of Certification
• MOC Competencies and Criteria

American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR)

• Homepage
• Maintenance of Certification
• MOC Booklet of Information (pdf format)

ABPMR Requirements for MOC:

All ABPMR diplomates with a 10-year, time-limited certificate must complete all applicable MOC requirements in order to receive a new time-limited certificate at the end of the 10-year cycle. Diplomates with a lifetime certificate (issued before 1993) are also strongly encouraged to participate in the MOC program, but will retain their certificates regardless of participation and/or performance in the program. However, many of the Academy’s education tools also fulfill “local” requirements of credentialing and maintenance of licensure.

The MOC program is divided into four parts, or components, that are designed to measure the six core competencies. Details of each component are as follows:

Part I: Professional Standing (Licensure)

Physicians must hold a valid, unrestricted medical license in at least one state or jurisdiction in the United States, its territories or Canada.  For more information, click here.

Part II: Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment

Physicians must participate in educational and self-assessment programs that meet specialty-specific standards set forth by the ABPMR.

As of February 12, 2009 the American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification requirements have been lowered.

What you need (within the 10-year MOC cycle):

• Complete a minimum of 300 Category 1 Credits
  • 50% of these 300 credits must be within the physician's specialty area or practice.
  • CME credits must be endorsed by either the ACCME or AOA.
  • For more information from the ABPMR, click here.
• Diplomates with certificates expiring in 2010 and beyond must complete four (4) self-assessments (such as the SAE-P)
  • For more information from the ABPMR, click here. 

Part III: Cognitive Expertise (Examinations)

Physicians must demonstrate, through a proctored examination, that they have the fundamental, practice-related and practice environment-related knowledge to provide quality care in PM&R.

What this means:

• You must take and pass the ABPMR MOC Examination once during the 10-year cycle. This can be done in any of years 7-10 of your individual cycle
• Subspecialty recertification also requires passing a MOC Examination. Please note: the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) subspecialty examination can fulfill both the PRM and the primary MOC exam requirements
• For more information, click here.

Part IV: Practice Performance Assessment

Physicians are evaluated in their clinical practice according to specialty-specific standards for patient care. They are asked to demonstrate that they can assess the quality of care they provide compared to peers and national benchmarks and then apply the best evidence or consensus recommendations to improve that care using follow-up assessments.

What this means:

• Diplomates with certificates expiring in 2010 and beyond must complete one approved Practice Performance Project (PIP) during the 10-year cycle.
• Currently, the PIP is the only ABPMR tool designed to fulfill the Practice Performance requirement. In the future, various options will be available to address quality improvement in practice.
• At this time, clinically inactive physicians participating in MOC will not be required to participate in Part IV of MOC (Practice Performance). All clinically inactive diplomates who wish to maintain their time-limited certification will be required to complete MOC Parts I - III at the same level as required for clinically active diplomates. The ABPMR must be notified of non-clinical status. If, during the MOC cycle, the diplomate returns to clinically active status, the diplomate must notify the ABPMR and he or she must fulfill the fourth component requirements of MOC.

MOC for Subspecialties:

Maintaining certification in an ABPMR subspecialty requires maintaining primary certification (time-limited primary certificate holders must participate in MOC) and passing the appropriate subspecialty MOC exam during years 7 – 10 of the subspecialty certification period. As noted earlier, the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) subspecialty examination can fulfill both the PRM and the primary MOC exam requirements.

For ease of navigation and access to relevant information, content on acadeME has been aligned with these requirements.