Blog: Two possible causes for declining MOC scores

Maintenance of certification (MOC) exam scores are falling: First-time pass rates for those who re-certified in internal medicine have declined from 90% in 2009 to 78% in 2013, Kevin Pho, MD, wrote on the KevinMD blog earlier this week. Pho cited two possible reasons for this drop. The first is the fragmentation of internal medicine: “With the advent of hospitalists, internists now only see hospital patients, or outpatients only. Rarely do they see both. When I re-certify in 2022, it's possible that I won't [have taken care of] a hospital patient in the 10 years since I last took the exam.” The second is the increasing burden of bureaucracy placed on internists. “As patient care is inundated with more paperwork, physicians have less time than ever to prepare for a rigorous board exam,” he wrote.

Source: KevinMD