Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties

Philosophy Of The ABNS CC Program

The guiding principle of continuous certification (CC) is to foster excellence in patient care. The ABNS intends to encourage, stimulate and support continuing education in the practice of neurosurgery to assist its diplomates in their dedication to lifelong learning and self-assessment through CC.

The CC program is designed to allow diplomates to meet requirements as they continuously work to be current with changes in the specialty. It provides an avenue for compliance with state and hospital requirements, which are expected to include either participation in an CC program or periodic reexamination by a state medical licensing board. CC also provides assurance to patients and their families, payors and funding agencies and the public that ABNS diplomates maintain and continually improve their knowledge and practice.

The CC program reflects the realities of today's neurosurgery practice. Emphasis is placed on core neurosurgery knowledge and practice common to all neurosurgeons. However, directors realize that neurosurgeons often concentrate in various subspecialties. The process had been designed to permit participants to include the subspecialty expertise when devoting time to CME activities and selecting a module for the CC Part III learning tool. As the specialty changes, requirements and oversight methods will be altered.