Abstract
This article reviews the development of the American Board of Medical Specialties subspecialty in neurocritical care (NCC) and describes the requirements for certification and the results of the first certification examination administered in October 2021. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) is the administrative board, and the sponsoring boards are the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), and American Board of Neurological Surgery. The American Board of Medical Specialties approved the subspecialty in 2018, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education developed and approved the training requirements in 2021. The fellowship programs are either 12 or 24 months in length and may become available in Academic Year 2022–2023. The first NCC examination was developed by a multispecialty group of subject matter experts following established test development procedures and was successfully administered to 1,011 candidates in October 2021. There were 406 (40.2%) ABIM candidates, 356 (35.2%) ABPN candidates, 208 (20.6%) ABA candidates, and 41 (4.1%) ABEM candidates. The end-of-test survey indicated that most examinees were satisfied with their test taking experience, and the .92 reliability index indicated that the test scores were reliable. An established process was also followed to set the criterion-referenced passing standard, and the resulting pass rate of 72.7% was judged to be reasonable. In summary, the combined efforts of representatives from the ABPN, ABA, ABEM, ABIM, and American Board of Neurological Surgery yielded a quality assessment instrument to identify physicians who possess the expertise required to be certified in NCC. The test development committee will continue to expand and improve the pool of test questions for the next examination, which is scheduled for October 2022.
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Acknowledgements
Neurocritical Care Certification and Continuing Certification Examination Committee: Drs. Alejandro Rabinstein (American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology [ABPN], chair), Vineeta Singh (ABPN, vice chair), Thomas Bleck (ABPN), Jordan Bonomo (American Board of Emergency Medicine), Andrew Carlson (American Board of Neurological Surgery), Cherylee Chang (American Board of Internal Medicine), Brenda Fahy (American Board of Anesthesiology), Samuel Galvagno (American Board of Anesthesiology), J. Claude Hemphill III (ABPN), Evadne Marcolini (American Board of Emergency Medicine), Rahul Nanchal (American Board of Internal Medicine), Soojin Park (ABPN), James Riviello (ABPN), Jose Suarez (ABPN), and Alex Valadka (American Board of Neurological Surgery).
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The study was conceived and designed by S.L.L. and D.J. L.S. and I.L. collected the data. Statistical analysis was performed by L.S. and I.L. S.L.L., L.S., D.J., A.R., and L.R.F. wrote the article, and all authors contributed substantially to the final version. The final manuscript was approved by all authors.
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Dr. Lewis has received payment and travel support as a Director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is an Elected Trustee and Acting Secretary General of the World Federation of Neurology (unpaid positions). Drs. Rabinstein and Singh are members of the Neurocritical Care Certification and Continuing Certification Examination Committee. Drs. Faulkner, Juul, Li, and Shen and Ms. O’Brien are employees of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Faulkner is President of the American College of Psychiatrists.
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Lewis, S.L., Shen, L., Juul, D. et al. Development and Results of the First Certification Examination in the American Board of Medical Specialties Neurocritical Care Subspecialty. Neurocrit Care 37, 611–615 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-022-01574-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-022-01574-4