Introduction
Background
Procedures
Requirements
for Recertification
Completion
of Recertification
Results
of Examination
Certificate
of Recertification
Publication
of Recertification Data
Application
of Recertification
Revocation
of Recertification Certificate
Summary
of Listed Cases - Recertification
The following information appears in the booklet Recertification in Thoracic Surgery which is published by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery to outline the rules, requirements, and procedures which have been established for recertification in thoracic surgery.
The Board of Thoracic Surgery was organized initially as an affiliate of the American Board of Surgery in 1948. It became a primary board in 1971, when the name was changed to the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
The American Board of Thoracic Surgery consists of 17 members nominated from the following organizations and the Secretary/Treasurer who is nominated at-large: the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (4), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (4), the American Surgical Association (2), the American College of Surgeons (2), the American Medical Association (1), the American Board of Surgery (1), the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association (2), and the Secretary/Treasurer-at-large (1).
In 1973, the American Board of Medical Specialties recommended to its 23 member boards that periodic recertification become an integral part of all national medical specialty certification programs. The American Board of Thoracic Surgery has always regarded as its primary purpose the protection of the public through the establishment and maintenance of standards for the specialty. In order to achieve this objective the American Board of Thoracic Surgery established training requirements, qualifications for examination, and procedures for certification. These requirements and procedures are reviewed and modified periodically as necessary. With the constructive intent of maintaining and advancing the standards of practice of thoracic surgery in the United States, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery concluded in 1974 that its Diplomates should be recertified. The first time limited certificates of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery were issued in 1996.
In September, 1979, the American Board of Medical Specialties approved the recertification proposal of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
In April, 1983, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery determined that recertification should include:
1. Evidence of attendance at appropriate continuing medical education functions.
2. A practice review.
3. Completion of the Self-Education/Self-Assessment in Thoracic Surgery (SESATS).
It is not necessary for Diplomates to purchase and complete SESATS prior to making application for examination. The SESATS booklet will be forwarded to Diplomates after their application for recertification has been accepted.
Diplomates certified after 1975 must be recertified within ten years of the date of the original certification in order to maintain this status. Diplomates with time-limited certificates may recertify up to three years in advance of the expiration of their ten-year certificate, and the recertification will be valid for ten years from the date of expiration of the previous certificate.
Recertification by the American Board of Surgery is not a prerequisite to becoming recertified in thoracic surgery.
Following receipt of a completed application for recertification with the necessary related information and after assessment of these credentials, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery will notify Diplomates that they have been accepted for the recertification process or that additional steps must be taken to obtain approval of their application. Please address all communications to the Secretary, Richard J. Cleveland, MD, American Board of Thoracic Surgery, One Rotary Center, Suite 803, Evanston, Illinois 60201.
REQUIREMENTS FOR RECERTIFICATION
I. General
a. Diplomates must hold a certificate issued by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery at the time of their application for recertification. Expiration of a certificate will not disqualify a candidate for recertification.
b. Diplomates must hold a currently valid license to practice medicine.
c. Diplomates must hold privileges to practice thoracic surgery in hospital(s) accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) or other hospital(s) judged acceptable by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
II. Educational
Each Diplomate applying for recertification must accumulate 100 hours of approved post-graduate medical education in the two years preceding the date of application. Credit will be allowed for medical educational activities in categories I and II as described in the instruction booklet for the Physicians Recognition Award of the American Medical Association.
Category I includes such programs as the annual meetings and postgraduate thoracic surgical programs of the American College of Surgeons, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. In order to meet the criteria for Category I a CME activity must (1) be sponsored or cosponsored by ACCME or the AMA and (2) comply with the definition of a planned program of CME. A planned program is one having sufficient scope and depth of coverage of a subject area or theme to form an educational unit that was planned, coordinated, administered, and evaluated in terms of educational objectives. These objectives must provide a defined level of knowledge or specific performance skill to the physician participating in the program. Under appropriate sponsorship these may include such activities as lecture series, grand rounds, teaching rounds, departmental scientific meetings, seminars, and workshops.
Category II includes medical educational activities sponsored by a medical organization or institution not formally accredited for continuing medical education. This may include regional thoracic meetings, thoracic teaching conferences and lectures at local institutions, and international thoracic meetings.
Credit is not given for medical teaching, preparation of teaching materials, publications, exhibits, presentation of papers, consultations, patient care review, staff committees and quality control conferences, including tissue review. Mortality and morbidity conferences will be given a maximum of 12 hours credit per year. Programs initiated and sponsored by individuals or commercial organizations such as travel agencies, publishers, advertising agencies, etc., will not be accepted. Self-instructional materials, including SESATS and SESAP, will be accepted for CME credits.
III. Operative Review
Diplomates will submit to the American Board of Thoracic Surgery a practice review consisting of the most recent 100 consecutive major cases. (The number of weeks during which these consecutive cases are accumulated should be stated.) If the operative experience is less than 100 major cases in the most recent year, the total experience for that year should be submitted.
The above listing will reflect the Diplomates experience at each hospital where the Diplomate holds surgical privileges. Each list must be authenticated by either the Chief of Thoracic Surgery, Chief of Surgery, or the hospital Director. All cases included on the practice profile form must also be listed on the case list form.
IV. Documentation
Diplomates should maintain precise records of continuing medical education activities in the two-year period prior to application for recertification. The board expects the Diplomate to abide by the honor system when recording and submitting CME experience. The application forms will provide spaces for entering these credits in detailed fashion. Forms will also be provided for listing the detailed practice review in appropriate categories. These forms must be signed by the authenticating official as previously noted.
V. Examination
In place of a cognitive examination, candidates for recertification will be required to complete both the general thoracic and cardiac portions of the SESATS syllabus (Self-Education/Self Assessment in Thoracic Surgery). The SESATS booklet will be forwarded to candidates when their application, including lists of CME credits and the practice review data, has been submitted and approved. SESATS is available both in booklet form and on CD-ROM.
A Diplomate will be admitted to the recertification process after satisfactorily completing all the preliminary requirements of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery in force at the time of receipt of the application. All credentials, including listing of the completed and authenticated practice review must be reviewed and accepted by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Diplomates will then be notified of their admissibility. If requirements are inadequate, the Credentials Committee may be requested to review the data submitted.
The results of the examination will be kept confidential and only the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the Diplomate will know the results of the examination. Candidates are notified of the results of their examination at the end of the current year, or early in January of the following year.
CERTIFICATE OF RECERTIFICATION
The American Board of Thoracic Surgery will issue a recertification certificate valid for ten years to Diplomates who have successfully completed the recertification process.
Any Diplomate is allowed to apply for recertification starting within three years of the expiration of his/her ten-year certificate. The new certificate will then be in force for ten years from the date of the expiration of the original certificate.
Any Diplomate holding an invalid certificate, i.e. a time-limited certificate that has expired, may enter the recertification process at any time. Diplomates are recertified in 10-year increments because the original certificate was valid for 10 years. Thus, no matter when you recertify, the valid through date on the newly-issued certificate will be 10 years from the expiration date of the previous certificate.
PUBLICATION OF RECERTIFICATION DATA
Upon recertification of a Diplomate, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery will supply pertinent data to the American Board of Medical Specialties for publication in The Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists and in their directory of certified thoracic surgeons. A Diplomates biographic entry will show recertification in thoracic surgery, as well as his/her original certification.
APPLICATION FOR RECERTIFICATION
Those who wish to be recertified should request an application blank from the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, One Rotary Center, Suite 803, Evanston, IL 60201. May 1st is the deadline for receipt of application from those seeking recertification that year.
An administrative fee of $50.00 will be charged if the application contains any errors or omissions.
The completed material (answer sheets) must be received by the deadline of November 15, 1998 or it will be necessary to complete a new recertification application the next year and start over again.
Recertification fee ($850.00)
REVOCATION OF RECERTIFICATION CERTIFICATE
No recertification certificate shall be issued and any recertification certificate may be revoked by the Board if it shall determine that:
a. the candidate for recertification did not possess the required qualifications and requirements for examination whether or not such deficiency was known to the Board or any Committee thereof prior to examination or at the time of the issuance of the certificate as the case may be,
b. the candidate for recertification made a material misstatement or withheld information in his/her application or any other representation to the Board or any Committee thereof, whether intentional or unintentional,
c. the candidate for recertification was convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and, in the opinion of the Board, having a material relationship to the practice of medicine, or
d. the candidate for recertification had his/her license to practice medicine revoked or was disciplined or censured by any court or other body having proper jurisdiction and authority because of any act or omission arising from the practice of medicine.
Revised November 1997
c. the candidate for recertification was convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and, in the opinion of the Board, having a material relationship to the practice of medicine, or
d. the candidate for recertification had his/her license to practice medicine revoked or was disciplined or censured by any court or other body having proper jurisdiction and authority because of any act or omission arising from the practice of medicine.
Revised November 1997
SUMMARY OF LISTED CASES RECERTIFICATION
Hospital(s):
Inclusive Dates: from / to
Major General Thoracic Procedures
TYPE OF OPERATION - List the Number of Cases
1. Chest
Wall
a. Resection of Tumor
b. Debridement/Rewiring Sternum
c. Repair of Pectus Excavatum/Carinatum
d. Thoracic Outlet
e. Resection
f. Repair of Sternal Fractures
g. Thoracoplasty
h. Others (Specify)
Total Chest Wall
2. Lung and Pleura
a. Pneumonectomy
b. Lobectomy
c. Segmental Resection
d. Pulmonary Resection With
En Bloc Chest Wall
e. Wedge Resection or Resection
of Bleb
f. Thoracotomy for Exploration
and Biopsy
g. Decortication
h. Pleurectomy/Pleurodesis
i. Closure of Broncho Pleural
Fistula
j. Drainage of Lung Abscess/Empyema
k. Repair of Lung Laceration
or Injury
l. Resection
of Pulmonary Cyst or Sequestration
m. Resection
of Pleural Tumor
n. Others
(Specify)
Total Lung and Pleura
3. Tracheobronchial
a. Resection of Stricture
b. Resection of Tumor
c. Repair of Rupture or Laceration
d. Sleeve Lobectomy or Pneumonectomy
e. Mediastinal Tracheostomy
f. Others (Specify)
Total Tracheobronchial
4. Mediastinum
a. Excision of Tumor or
Cyst
b. Thymectomy
c. Mediastinoscopy/Mediastinotomy
d. Ligation of Thoracic Duct
e. Others
(Specify)
Total Mediastinum
5. Diaphragm
a. Repair
of Congenital Hernia
b. Repair of Paraesophageal Hernia
c. Repair
of Traumatic Hernia
d. Plication
e. Resection
Total Diaphragm
6. Esophagus
a. Resection or Bypass
for Tumor or Stricture
b. Correction of Reflux or
Stricture
c. Excision of Diverticulum
d. Correction of Esophageal
Atresia (TEF)
e. Myotomy
f. Closure of Fistula
g. Ligation of Varices
h. Revision of Bypass
i. Repair/Drainage of Perforation
j. Others (Specify)
Total Esophagus
7. Thoracotomy for:
a. Anterior Spinal Fusion
b. Transthoracic Vagotomy
c. Sympathectomy
d. Re-exploration for Bleeding
e. Other (Specify)
Total Thoracotomy
8. Video-Assisted Thorascopic Procedures (VATS)
a. Diagnostic Thoracoscopy/Biopsy
Pleurodesis
b. Wedge Resection for
Nodule
c. Lung Biopsy
d. Lobectomy or Pneumonectomy
e. Resection of Cyst
f. Pericardial
Window
g. Drainage of Empyema/Hemothorax
h. Mediastinal Procedure
i. Esophageal Procedure
j. Others
Total Video-Assisted Thorascopic Procedures
TOTAL MAJOR GENERAL THORACIC PROCEDURES (A)
TYPE OF OPERATION - List the Number of Cases
1. Closed Operations for Congenital Heart Disease Procedures
a. Patent Ductus Arteriosus
b. Coarctation of Aorta
c. Shunting Procedure
d. Vascular
Ring or Arch Anomalies
e. Valvotomy
f. Pulmonary Artery Banding
g. Atrial
Septectomy
h. Others (Specify)
Total Closed Operations for Congenital Heart Disease
2. Open Operations for Congenital Heart Disease
a. Tetralogy of Fallot
b. Transposition
c. Truncus
Arteriosus
d. A-V Septal Defect
e. Anomalous
Pulmonary Venous Drainage
f. Ventricular Septal Defect
g. Atrial Septal Defect