• Lois Margaret Nora, Mellie Villahermosa Pouwels, and Mira Irons.
• L.M. Nora is president and CEO, American Board of Medical Specialties, Chicago, Illinois. M.V. Pouwels is director, Medical Education Collaborations, American Medical Association, and was vice president for academic programs and services, American Board of Medical Specialties, Chicago, Illinois. M. Irons is senior vice president for academic affairs, American Board of Medical Specialties, Chicago, Illinois.
• Acad Med. 2016 Jan 1; 91 (1): 16-9.

AbstractThe American Board of Medical Specialties board certification has transformed into a career-long process of learning, assessment, and performance improvement through its Program for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Medical educators across many medical professional organizations, specialty societies, and other institutions have played important roles in shaping MOC and tailoring its overarching framework to the needs of different specialties. This Commentary addresses potential barriers to engagement in work related to MOC for medical school (MS) and academic health center (AHC) educators and identifies reasons for, and ways to accomplish, greater involvement in this work. The authors present ways that medical and other health professions educators in these settings can contribute to the continuous improvement of the MOC program including developing educational and assessment activities, engaging in debate about MOC, linking MOC with institutional quality improvement activities, and pursuing MOC-related scholarship. MS- and AHC-based educators have much to offer this still-young and continually improving program, and their engagement is sought, necessary, and welcomed.

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