The American Board of Orthodontics Report for the SWSO

Dr. Jerry D. English

ABO Launches Effort to Increase the Numbers by Promoting Early Certification Followed By Recertification

The new ABO process promotes early certification (immediately following graduation from a graduate orthodontic program) followed by periodic reexamination. Ultimately, the new certification process will go into effect in 2007 and will be applied to the orthodontic residents/students who are graduating in that year. In the meantime, a three-year transition period will assist practicing orthodontists, including those orthodontists who graduate in 2005, 2006 or 2007, in achieving board certification.

The Board of Directors took many factors into account while developing the new approach to certification. For example, many practicing orthodontists are currently board-eligible (have passed the Phase II Clinical Examination). To address their situation, the Board has approved two different approaches to certification for these individuals. One approach, “the Gateway Offer,” is a totally new concept that relies heavily on the reexamination process. The second approach is the more traditional pathway. However, practicing orthodontists may only take advantage of the Gateway Offer until July 1, 2007. The more traditional options will only be available until February 2008. After that point in time, the ABO will focus on early certification followed by periodic reexamination.

In 2007, graduating orthodontic residents and students will take the Phase II Written Exam, and, after successful completion of this exam and graduation from their orthodontic programs, the new graduates may then take the Phase III Initial Certification Exam. This exam will involve the presentation of cases treated in residency programs and will be evaluated according to ABO standards. The recent graduate must have initiated and completed treatment of the presented cases. A 10-year time-limited certificate will be issued upon successful completion of the Phase II Written Exam and the Phase III Initial Certification Exam. When the 10-year certificate expires, the orthodontists must successfully complete the Phase III First Recertification Exam to maintain their certification.

According to the ABO Board of Directors, the Phase III Initial Certification Exam will offer the following benefits:

1. It will encourage orthodontists to become certified early in their careers and will require periodic reexamination to maintain certification. This will potentially maximize the quality of orthodontic care by instilling motivation for self-assessment.
2. Board certification will become the norm rather than the exception and will serve as a means for continuous quality assessment. In the process, dental colleagues and the public may trust the system to provide information pertaining to the continued competency of orthodontists.
3. Orthodontic education programs could use the Phase III Initial Certification Exam as an objective external outcomes measure for the evaluation of their clinical curricula. This Phase III Initial Certification Exam, combined with the use of the Phase II Written Exam for evaluating the didactic aspect of the orthodontic educational system, has the potential of yielding a standardized North American testing system that objectively evaluates the resident training process. This would fulfill one of the main original objectives of the ABO’s founding directors.

Until the new approach to board certification truly gets under way, the ABO is offering a transition process for practicing orthodontists who are not board certified. This opportunity, also known as the Gateway Offer, will serve as a means of entrance to board certification for practicing orthodontists.

The essential components of the Gateway Offer are as follows:

1. The Gateway Offer is a one-time offer. The offer commenced March 1, 2005, and expires July 1, 2007.
2. All practicing orthodontists who have successfully passed the Phase II Written Exam can apply for certification via the ABO website or by sending written correspondence to the ABO central office. Upon successful application, the Gateway diplomate will receive an ABO certificate that is valid for five years from the date of issuance; the expiration date will be conspicuously displayed on this certificate. In addition, the Gateway Offer will also be extended to graduates of the orthodontic classes of 2005, 2006 and 2007 who pass the Phase II Written Exam.
3. Recertification is mandatory and must be completed before the expiration date on the certificate. Failure to recertify will result in forfeiture of certification, and all privileges and inference to diplomate status will be revoked. The diplomate’s name will be deleted from all official listings of current diplomates.
4. A fee of $1,880 will be assessed to obtain the five-year, time-limited ABO certificate, and an annual fee of $125 will be required to maintain certification during the five-year period. These fees will include the Phase III First Recertification Exam. Failure to recertify will not entitle the orthodontist to any refunds.

Orthodontists who have not passed the Phase II Written Exam

Orthodontists who have not taken or have not passed the Phase II Written Exam may do so in May 2005, 2006, or 2007. Those who pass may achieve board certification either by successfully completing the current Phase III Clinical Exam in 2006, 2007, or 2008, or by accepting the Gateway Offer as described above.

Phase III First Recertification Exam

(a) Timing of the Exam: The Phase III First Recertification Exam will first be available in 2009 for those diplomates who choose the Gateway Offer. If the exam is completed earlier than the expiration date of certification, the unexpired time will be added to the recertification period. This exam will also be offered in 2017 to the first group of orthodontists who completed the early certification process.

(b) Examination Requirements:

1. The Board Case Review Oral Exam will be comprised of cases presented to the candidate for diagnosis, treatment planning and discussion with examiners.
2. The Diplomate Case Presentation with Oral Review will include a combination of Discrepancy Index (DI) and case category requirements as follows:
   • three cases with a DI of at least 10 and three cases with a DI of at least 20;
   • no more than one case treated with orthognathic surgery;
   • at least one case treated with four quadrant extractions;
   • at least one case of a bilateral or unilateral full-step Class II malocclusion corrected to a Class I molar and canine relationship.

(c) Length of Certification: The diplomate will be awarded a 10-year certificate upon successful completion of the Phase III First Recertification Examination.

Please refer to the March editions of the AJO-DO and AAO Bulletin for additional ABO new process information.

2005 Phase II Written Exam

The 2005 Phase II written examination was given on Friday, May 20, in San Francisco. Three hundred and forty-six candidates took the Phase II and 304 passed, yielding an 88% pass rate.

2005 Phase III Exam

The Phase III clinical examination was held February 18–24, 2005 in St. Louis. During the exam 49 candidates passed the Phase III exam, 18 candidates passed the oral exam on the board case records only, and 22 passed the oral exam and presented their Option II pretreatment records. From the SWSO, there were 5 new diplomates:

Statistics as of March 21, 2005:

Recertification

During Phase III examination 27 diplomates voluntarily became recertified. Each diplomate taking the recertification exam sent in one case presentation, graded ten cases from their practice with the calibration kit, and sent treatment plans for two cases on the website. The recertification volunteers also field-tested our new case management form.

Educators’ Symposium

The ABO will invite two educators from each school to a symposium to be held on Saturday, October 8, at the St. Louis Airport Marriott. Approximately 100 to 150 educators are expected, and they will arrive on Friday, October 7. The purpose of the educators’ symposium will be to assist the educators in understanding the preparation of cases for the ABO Phase III exam with regard to the newly announced changes in the board-certification Process.

Ketcham Memorial Award

The Board will honor Dr. Herbert Klontz in New Orleans, as recipient of the 2006 Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award.

Dale B. Wade Award of Excellence

Revised in 2004, the Dale B. Wade Award is bestowed by the Board in the memory of the late Dr. Dale Wade, expert clinician, teacher and former chairman of the Ohio State University Department of Orthodontics. The award honors an exemplary senior clinician who demonstrates exceptional dedication to orthodontics through clinical excellence and/or devoted teaching in the image of Dr. Wade. The 2006 Dale B. Wade Award of Excellence in Orthodontics will be given to Drs. Richard Aubrey (posthumous), James Baldwin, and Edward Genocov.

Earl E. and Wilma S. Shepard Distinguished Service Award

Also revised in 2004, the Earl E. and Wilma S. Shepard Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual for outstanding dedication and advancement of the ideals and mission of The American Board of Orthodontics. Dr. Shepard was the first Executive Director of the ABO. The Shepards dedicated a significant portion of their lives and efforts toward fulfilling the goals of the Board. The 2006 Earl E. and Wilma S. Shepard Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Dr. George D. Selfridge, who served as the ABO Executive Director from 1987–1997.

Computerized Written Exam in 2007

The ABO will begin giving computerized written examinations at Pearson Centers nationwide. The AAO supports this change and a student poll showed 2 to 1 that students would prefer a computerized exam near their hometown. It is noteworthy that nearly all of the 23 medical boards, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and three dental boards are using Pearson Centers for computerized examinations.

Giving exams at Pearson Centers will relieve our security concerns, as questions are scrambled to discourage candidates from remembering a particular question or group of questions. Studiesshow that it is harder to remember questions from a computer screen than from a paper/pencil exam.

New Director

During the 105th AAO Annual Session in San Francisco, The American Board of Orthodontics installed Dr. S. Ed Owens of Jackson, Wyoming, as President and welcomed Dr. Scott A. Jamieson of Marquette, Michigan, as the new Director, replacing Dr. Michael L. Riolo from the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry D. English, D.D.S., M.S.
Director, SWSO

>> Back to Newsletter Home