Overview
Continuing Certification (CCP) is a program of educational and professional development designed to assess the competence of physicians on an ongoing basis throughout their professional career. CCP is based on the 6 general competencies identified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the ABMS: patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. The 6 competencies are represented in the 4 components of CCP:
- Evidence of Professional Standing:
- License attestation
- Evidence of Commitment to Lifelong-Learning and Periodic Self-Assessment:
- CME attestation
- Periodic self-assessment of general knowledge
- Evidence of Cognitive Expertise:
- Longitudinal assessment (CertLink)
- Evaluation of Performance in Practice:
- Practice assessment/Quality Improvement
CCP and You
If you certified before 1991, you hold a lifetime certificate and participation in CCP is entirely voluntary. If you hold a lifetime certificate, it cannot be revoked if you volunteer to participate in CCP but decide not to pursue all elements of the program.
If you certified in or after 1991, you were issued a time-limited certificate.* Certificates issued during the period 1991-2005 were renewable by a process called “recertification”. Beginning in 2006, all time-limited certificates, whether for initial certification or for ongoing certification, are renewed through an ongoing certification program, previously called MOC (Maintenance of Certification) and now called CCP (Continuing Certification Program). Diplomates with time-limited certificates are automatically enrolled in CCP.
For additional information on CCP, please see the CCP FAQs.
*The above timeline applies to dermatology specialty certification. Subspecialty certification in dermatopathology did not become time-limited until 2006.
