Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
Maintenance of Certification is the ongoing program specialty boards use to keep a physician's board certification current after the initial exam.
Also known as: MOC, Continuing certification
Board certification is no longer a one-time event for most specialties. Maintenance of Certification (MOC) — increasingly called continuing certification — is the framework by which specialty boards require ongoing learning, assessment, and improvement to keep a certification active.
What it is
Maintenance of Certification (MOC) reflects a shift in how board certification works: rather than certifying a physician once for life, most specialty boards now require ongoing activity to keep certification current.
Why it exists. The premise is that medicine changes, so demonstrating competence should be continuous rather than a single exam years ago. MOC is the mechanism boards use to require that ongoing demonstration.
Common building blocks. While each board designs its own program, MOC frameworks have historically shared themes such as: maintaining licensure and professional standing, participating in lifelong learning and self-assessment, an assessment of knowledge (traditionally a periodic exam, now often longitudinal question formats at many boards), and improvement-in-practice or quality activities. The exact components, names, and schedules differ by board.
How it relates to CME. MOC and CME overlap but aren't identical. Many CME activities can be structured to also count toward MOC requirements, and boards often coordinate with the CME system so a single activity can satisfy both. But MOC is a board program with its own rules, whereas CME is the broader continuing-education system.
Who oversees it. In the United States, member boards operate under umbrella organizations for allopathic and osteopathic specialties, which set overarching standards while individual boards run the specifics.
Why the details keep changing. Boards periodically revise their programs in response to feedback from diplomates, often to reduce burden or to replace a single high-stakes exam with more frequent, lower-stakes assessment. That is precisely why a general description like this one can only orient you to the shape of MOC, not the specifics you must meet.
MOC requirements are set by each specialty board and are among the more frequently revised areas of continuing education. Never rely on a general summary — confirm your obligations, timelines, and which activities count directly with your certifying board.
Worked example
A certified physician checks their specialty board's portal and finds their continuing-certification program requires ongoing learning credits, a longitudinal knowledge assessment answered periodically online, and an improvement activity. They deliberately choose CME activities their board lists as MOC-eligible so one effort counts twice — and verify the current requirements on the board's own site.
Related entries
Related
- How CME Credit Works Guide CME credit is a standardized unit that documents accredited learning you complete to stay current and meet licensure or certification requirements.
- What Is CME? Concept Continuing medical education is the structured, lifelong learning clinicians do after formal training to keep their knowledge and skills current.
Sources & further reading
- Continuing Certification (MOC) — American Board of Medical Specialties (article)
- CME and MOC — Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (article)
- ABMS Continuing Certification Directory — American Board of Medical Specialties (article)