Immediate Past President’s Message
A year ago, as I began my term as President of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS), I wrote in this e-newsletter that one of my goals was to investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) may impact the organization. In the past year, the Board has done a lot of research on AI and will continue to do so. While AI is changing quickly, we need to be deliberate in how we embrace the technology.
I appointed ABOS Vice President Dr. Scott Porter to lead the Board’s AI Task Force. He has done a great job facilitating the meetings and bringing in outside experts. Even though my term as President has ended, Dr. Porter will continue to lead the investigation of potential opportunities and potential threats that AI presents.
We will not start using AI until we have a full understanding and formulate a detailed plan. In the meantime, we continue to work with practicing orthopaedic surgeons to write examination questions and administer oral examinations. Currently, examination question writers are forbidden to use AI to draft questions.
I also made it a priority during my presidency to continue the DEI work of my predecessors, as it is important to make sure that our programs and our assessments are free from bias. We are completing several projects investigating potential bias in our examinations, and the Board will share those results in early 2025. While the Board is very much focused on DEI and eliminating potential bias, diversity and high standards can co-exist. The Board’s mission is to protect the public, and our patients deserve to know that all ABOS Board Certified orthopaedic surgeons have gone through a rigorous—but fair—Board-Certification process.
Finally, it was an honor to be the ABOS President during the organization’s 90th anniversary. It has been great to look back at what the Board has accomplished over the years. It is even more impressive to see that while the Board has changed—especially in regard to technology—the Board’s mission has not. We have existed for 90 years to protect the public and will continue to make that a priority in everything we do. As the organization for Orthopaedic Surgery Board Certification, we also want to continue to provide meaningful programs that are not overly burdensome.
The Board is in great hands as we move into 2024 with Dr. Kevin Garvin as President and Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli as Vice President.
James D. Kang, MD
Immediate Past President, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
President’s Message
It is a true honor to serve as President of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) for the coming year. I want to thank Dr. James Kang and Dr. Scott Porter, who have demonstrated exceptional leadership as President and Vice President over the past year. I am deeply grateful for their remarkable contributions.
This year, I am committed to advancing two core pillars of our mission: serving our patients and strengthening our profession.
First and foremost, our duty is to protect the public by ensuring that every ABOS Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon is not only qualified but competent. This responsibility is sacred, and I vow to uphold it with the utmost dedication. The integrity of our certification process is essential to maintaining the trust our patients place in us. We must continue to rigorously assess and confirm the competence of orthopaedic surgeons, always with patient safety and care at the heart of our mission.
Second, we must focus on ensuring that the ABOS remains a cornerstone of professional excellence in orthopaedic surgery. Our Board Certification is a mark of distinction. It signifies that our surgeons are highly skilled, ethical, and committed to lifelong learning. While other boards may simply require continuing medical education (CME), the ABOS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program holds surgeons to a higher standard—incorporating peer review, a case list, and periodic knowledge assessments alongside CME. This robust process ensures that ABOS Diplomates are not only maintaining their skills but are continuously striving for excellence in patient care. Our commitment to upholding rigorous standards is unwavering, and I am confident that we are making a real difference in patients’ safety and quality of care.
During my time on the Board, I have witnessed firsthand the dedication of our ABOS team. For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges, the ABOS adapted swiftly, allowing our surgeons to maintain their certification safely without compromising our standards. While other organizations may have paused or diluted their requirements, we stood firm in our commitment to ensure that our surgeons were fairly evaluated—because our patients deserve nothing less.
As highlighted in this issue of The Diplomate, the ABOS is continually innovating and refining our approach. Our goal is clear: to provide you with a meaningful and efficient MOC experience while keeping the well-being of our patients front and center.
I am excited to work alongside our Vice President, Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, and our hundreds of top-notch orthopaedic surgeon volunteers. In addition, the small, but extremely talented and dedicated staff do a phenomenal job helping the Board carry out its mission. Together, we will continue to elevate the ABOS and the orthopaedic profession.
As we move forward, we must always seek ways to improve. Your feedback is invaluable, and I encourage you to share your thoughts on how we can do better. Please reach out to me directly at president@abos.org.
Let’s make this a year of progress, unity, and leadership—driven by our collective commitment to excellence in patient care and our profession.
Kevin L. Garvin, MD
President, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
Executive Director’s Report
At the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS), we take pride in listening to you and acting on your suggestions. While we regularly survey ABOS Diplomates, we also appreciate feedback at other times.
Last year when we heard from several orthopaedic surgeons that they would not be able to take the ABOS Part II Examination at the Palmer House in July because of life events such as upcoming or recent childbirth (for them or their partner), the Board decided to implement an Alternate Date Examination. In addition to those who reached out to us, others who had a life event making participation in the ABOS Part II or Oral Recertification Examinations impossible were able to take the examination at a testing center in North Carolina.
The ABOS received positive feedback from both the Examinees and Examiners concerning that first Alternate Date Oral Examination in 2023, so we offered an Alternate Date Oral Examination again in 2024 for those who had a life event in July, this time at a testing center in Dallas. Once again, the Board received many “thank yous.”
In 2024, the ABOS also offered an Alternate Date ABOS Part I Examination. The Board plans to continue offering these Alternate Date examinations to accommodate those individuals with life events that conflict with the standard examination dates.
These are just recent examples. Over the last decade, the ABOS made the following changes because of Diplomate feedback:
- Creation of the ABOS Web-Based Longitudinal Assessment (ABOS WLA) Pathway
- Removal of general orthopaedic questions from the ABOS Practice-Profiled Examinations
- Streamlining Applications (now known as Professional Standing Updates) and Case Lists
- Adding a Retired in Good Status Diplomate designation
- Partnering with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to make it easier to submit CME and SAE credits
- Implementing flexibility in the ABOS Maintenance of Certification Program submission requirements
When you receive a survey from the ABOS, please complete it. We look at everything, including responses to the open-ended questions. You can always reach out to me at dmartin@abos.org with any feedback that you have. I am happy to set up a telephone conference at your convenience. At the ABOS, we work hard to create a meaningful ABOS MOC Program that is not overly burdensome to Diplomates, while still providing a concierge type experience for our Diplomates as they navigate the process.
David F. Martin, MD
Executive Director, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
New Assessment Specialist
The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) welcomes Qiana Robertson, MBA, as its new Assessment Specialist. As part of the Assessment Development and Administration team, Qiana is responsible for overseeing the creation and delivery of the ABOS Written Examinations: ABOS Part I, ABOS Computer-Based Recertification, and ABOS Subspecialty Examinations.
Much of her role at the ABOS will be behind the scenes, working with dozens of ABOS volunteers who write questions, develop examination blueprints, and set passing standards. In addition, she will work with the organizations that make administering the examinations possible.
Qiana brings a breadth of experience, as she has spent much of her career working for healthcare organizations, including Duke University School of Medicine and the North Carolina Board of Physical Therapy Examiners. She has already provided insight about how the ABOS can improve programs and processes.
In 2024, about 1,500 orthopaedic surgeons sat for an ABOS Computer Examination. Qiana has helped the ABOS make each examination a reasonable experience. Welcome, Qiana!
Take ABOS Subspecialty Examinations Sooner
The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) announced a new initiative this summer to allow orthopaedic surgeons to take their Subspecialty Certification Examinations earlier in their careers, making the process of obtaining Subspecialty Certification less burdensome. The changes will be effective for the 2025 ABOS Orthopaedic Sports Medicine and Surgery of the Hand Examinations, which will be offered on August 5, 2025.
To sit for a 2025 ABOS Subspecialty Certification Examination, you must complete a registration form found on your ABOS Dashboard. The form requests the name and email address of your Fellowship Program Director. The ABOS will send an email asking the Program Director to attest that you were/are part of the fellowship program and that your fellowship slot was/is Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited. February 1, 2025, is the deadline to submit the registration form and to have the Fellowship Program Director complete the brief attestation.
Previously, orthopaedic surgeons needed to be fully ABOS Board Certified before they were eligible to apply for an ABOS Subspecialty Examination. With the change, Candidates are now eligible to take their Subspecialty Examination after passing the ABOS Part I Written Examination and successfully completing an ACGME-accredited fellowship program. This allows them to be assessed when their knowledge is at its peak and their practice demands may be lower.
Passing the Examination is just one step in the process of obtaining ABOS Subspecialty Certification. The requirements for earning Subspecialty Certification have not changed, just the order that an individual completes the required elements. Candidates who pass the examination early must then achieve primary Board Certification by the ABOS before they can submit an Application, Case List, and Letters of Recommendation as part of the Subspecialty Certification process. Diplomates must submit these items in this cycle by February 1, 2025, with a late deadline of February 15, 2025.
Surgery of the Hand Subspecialty Certification was established in 1989. Subspecialty Certification is available for those surgeons who have successfully completed an ACGME-accredited Hand fellowship, have met the requirements for volume and diversity of surgical cases in Hand Surgery, and have made significant contributions to their field as shown through their letters of recommendation.
Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Subspecialty Certification was first introduced in 2007. Surgeons must successfully complete an ACGME-accredited Sports Medicine fellowship. Once in practice, they must submit a case list that demonstrates sufficient diversity and volume of cases. The certification process also requires contributions to the field of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine and peer review.
The changes in ABOS Subspecialty Certification have the full support of the relevant societies, including the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS), the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), and the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). These organizations believe that earning Subspecialty Certification is important to the profession and allows these surgeons to distinguish themselves from their peers.
ABOS Subspecialty Certification requirements can be found at https://www.abos.org/subspecialties/.
ABOS WLA Knowledge Sources to be Posted in January
On January 10, 2025, the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) will post more than 200 Knowledge Sources for the 2025 ABOS Web-Based Longitudinal Assessment (ABOS WLA) Pathway. New Diplomates and newly Recertified Diplomates are encouraged to try the ABOS WLA Pathway in 2025; the earlier Diplomates begin the pathway, the more chances they have to be successful.
Diplomates whose ABOS Board Certification expires in 2030 and who have not yet participated in the ABOS WLA Pathway during their current ABOS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) cycle must begin participating in 2025 or they will need to take an ABOS Computer-Based Recertification Examination or ABOS Oral Recertification Examination as their Knowledge Assessment portion of MOC.
The 2025 ABOS WLA Assessment Window will be open from April 4 through May 23, 2025. The ABOS will host a webinar on the 2025 ABOS WLA on January 16, 2025, at 7:30 pm ET. To register for the webinar, click here. For more details on the ABOS WLA Pathway, go to https://www.abos.org/moc/abos-web-based-longitudinal-assessment-abos-wla/.
ABOS Announces Its 2024-2025 Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) recently selected its 2024-2025 Officers and elected two new Director-Elects.
Kevin L. Garvin, MD, the L. Thomas Hood, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, University of Nebraska, will serve as ABOS President. Dr. Garvin, along with the President-Elect, Vice President, and Secretary, hold their offices for a 1-year term.
Wayne J. Sebastianelli, MD, the Kalenak Professor in Orthopaedics at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Medical Director, Penn State Sports Medicine, will serve as ABOS Vice President.
Charles L. Nelson, MD, Chief of Adult Reconstruction Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, will serve as ABOS President-Elect.
Lisa A. Taitsman, MD, MPH, Professor of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, will serve as ABOS Secretary.
Kyle J. Jeray, MD, Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Prisma Health-Upstate, has been re-elected as ABOS Treasurer for a 1-year term.
“Once again, the Board has elected an outstanding group of Officers,” said David F. Martin, MD, ABOS Executive Director. “They are all leaders in the field, and the Board is lucky to have them serve, as they are all busy practicing orthopaedic surgeon leaders.”
The Board elected Dawn M. LaPorte, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine, and Jennifer Moriatis Wolf, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at The University of Chicago, as new Director-Elects of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
“The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons both supplied outstanding slates of nominees from which the Board could select,” said Martin. “Dr. LaPorte and Dr. Wolf bring a tremendous amount of energy and significant skills to the organization.”
The ABOS Board of Directors consists of 21 members, which includes 12 Active Directors, six Senior Directors, two Directors-Elect, and one Public Member Director. ABOS Board Members serve one 10-year term, while the Public Member Director serves a 3-year renewable term. Nominations to the ABOS Board of Directors come from the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American Medical Association. Officers are current Board members elected by other Board members. For a full list of ABOS Board Members, go to www.abos.org/about/board-of-directors/.
CME Transfer
More than 50 Continuing Medical Education (CME) providers are submitting credits directly to the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) for ABOS Diplomates as they earn ABOS Maintenance of Certification CME credits without needing to upload a certificate to their ABOS Dashboard. Each CME provider has different rules about claiming credit, so please follow each CME provider’s rules carefully; there is usually a time limit during which you can claim the credits.
Participating CME providers send the ABOS the learner’s name, month of birth, day of birth, and the number of credits that were earned. The ABOS does not issue Diplomate ID numbers, and CME providers should not be asking ABOS Diplomates for a number to process CME credits.
Once the CME credits are claimed and the CME provider processes the credit, it will appear on the Diplomate’s ABOS Dashboard as approved credit. There is no need to save CME certificates. Each provider decides how often to send credits to the ABOS; the credits may not appear immediately after they are claimed.
The ABOS is not a repository and only keeps track of CME credits up to meeting the ABOS requirements. Organizations such as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) have programs to keep track of all CME credits, such as those needed for licensure needs.
