By Douglas A. Perednia, M.D.
Earlier this year, CNN broke the story that generations of dermatologists have been "cheating" on their specialty board certification exams. Like their colleagues in radiology and most other medical specialties, large numbers of dermatology trainees have been studying for the boards by using massive collections of historical exam questions that were memorized and shared immediately after each year's test. Having access to these questions is useful because many specialty boards re-use questions from previous tests. Until this year about 20% of the questions used by the American Board of Dermatology (ABD) were recycled from previous years, compared with about 50% for the written exam in radiology.
The widespread use of these so-called "airplane notes" or "recalls" has been common knowledge in the medical world for decades, but the flurry of recent press reports has caused consternation in the powerful board certification industry. Stung by the publicity, the American Board of Medical Specialties issued a press release condemning the practice and calling it an unethical violation of copyright laws. Apparently caught by surprise, the executive director of the ABD admitted that she'd "never seen airplane notes, but I've heard about it", and subsequently cancelled a scheduled on-camera interview on the topic. Meanwhile, the American Board of Radiology hurriedly announced that its 2012 certification examination will be composed of entirely new questions for the first time in ten years. But while the lay press often frames the issue as one of "public safety", the real scandal surrounding specialty board certification is quite different.
Earlier this year, CNN broke the story that generations of dermatologists have been "cheating" on their specialty board certification exams. Like their colleagues in radiology and most other medical specialties, large numbers of dermatology trainees have been studying for the boards by using massive collections of historical exam questions that were memorized and shared immediately after each year's test. Having access to these questions is useful because many specialty boards re-use questions from previous tests. Until this year about 20% of the questions used by the American Board of Dermatology (ABD) were recycled from previous years, compared with about 50% for the written exam in radiology.
The widespread use of these so-called "airplane notes" or "recalls" has been common knowledge in the medical world for decades, but the flurry of recent press reports has caused consternation in the powerful board certification industry. Stung by the publicity, the American Board of Medical Specialties issued a press release condemning the practice and calling it an unethical violation of copyright laws. Apparently caught by surprise, the executive director of the ABD admitted that she'd "never seen airplane notes, but I've heard about it", and subsequently cancelled a scheduled on-camera interview on the topic. Meanwhile, the American Board of Radiology hurriedly announced that its 2012 certification examination will be composed of entirely new questions for the first time in ten years. But while the lay press often frames the issue as one of "public safety", the real scandal surrounding specialty board certification is quite different.
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