Physician Self-Assessment Tool, MKSAP 14 to be Released New ...

MEDICAL BULLETIN BOARD
Physician Self-Assessment Tool,
MKSAP 14 to be Released
New Edition Includes Online Version
and Self-Assessment Updates
The American College of Physicians (ACP) released
the 14th edition of its Medical Knowledge Self-
Assessment Program (MKSAP ® ) on July 31, 2006.
Internal medicine specialists, subspecialists, and residents
use the accredited continuing medical education
program to prepare for certification examinations, for
lifelong learning, and for improved quality of patient
care.
With its newest addition, MKSAP ® has evolved to
include features that will benefit a variety of today’s
internists, including 11 books, an interactive CD-ROM
and a new non-CME online version that allows anytime,
anywhere learning. A new add-on to MKSAP 14,
Board Basics, gives concise, targeted information to
assist residents preparing for the certification examination.
(Board Basics is available free to ACP Associate
member subscribers and for $75 to other subscribers.)
MKSAP 14 on CD-ROM and MKSAP Online will
be released in January 2007. The new MKSAP 14
Online will provide all of the features of MKSAP 14
on CD-ROM except the ability to earn CME credit or
access multi-media tutorials. Twice a year, beginning
in July 2007, Online Self-Assessment Updates will
provide up to 50 new multiple-choice questions and
the opportunity to earn up to 50 additional CME credits.
The subspecialties will rotate so that each of them
is tested every year. All four updates are available for
an additional $59 or for free to buyers of MKSAP 14
Complete, which also includes the print, CD-ROM,
and Online versions of the program.
MKSAP 14 subscribers who are enrolled in the
ABIM Maintenance of Certification Program will
have free access to specially created MKSAP Maintenance
of Certification Modules to earn up to 80 selfevaluation
process points by using any four of the five
available MKSAP 60-question modules.
The newest title in MKSAP 14’s library, Foundations
of Internal Medicine, covers professionalism,
policy and quality improvement and other important
topics at the forefront of the practice of medicine
today. Other titles in Part A include Cardiovascular
Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Rheumatology,
Neurology, and Hematology and Oncology.
Part B will be published December 29, 2006 and contain
five books: Infectious Disease, Pulmonary and
Critical Care Medicine, General Internal Medicine,
Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Nephrology.
MKSAP 14 books have been redesigned for
increased learning efficiency and readability and will
include a full-color layout and more photographs and
figures. The new Recent Advances feature alerts
physicians to important developments, while the Key
Points feature distills essential information. Selected
references will be listed at the end of each section,
while answers and critiques will be included in the
same book as the syllabus and the questions. The multiple-choice
questions are tested for difficulty and relevance,
resulting in norm tables that allow subscribers
to compare their performance to that of their peers.
MKSAP 14 content was planned by a team of
more than 115 leaders in 11 subspecialties who have
reviewed the relevant literature to present the best evidence
and the latest practices in the core of internal
medicine. Subscribers to past MKSAP editions have
been surveyed to ensure the program remains relevant
to medical practice and is influential in their medical
decision-making.
Co-editors in Chief for MKSAP 14 are Patrick C.
Alguire, MD, FACP, director of education and career
development for the American College of Physicians,
and Paul E. Epstein, MD, FACP, clinical professor of
medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and chief
of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Penn Medicine
at Radnor. “Whether you prefer to learn on the
computer or study the printed page, MKSAP 14 formats
offer a user-friendly, efficient way for physicians
to identify what they know and what needs further
study,” said Dr. Alguire.
Physicians who achieve computer-scored test
results significantly above the chance level can earn up
to 150 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits(TM) through the
MKSAP 14 print and CD-ROM versions. Computer
scoring is available until July 31, 2009.
To order MKSAP 14: Contact ACP Customer
Service Department: (800) 523-1546, ext. 2600 or
(215) 351-2600 (M–F, 9 A.M.–5 p.m. ET). Order online
at http://www.acponline.org/catalog/mksap/14
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PRACTICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY • SEPTEMBER 2006

MEDICAL BULLETIN BOARD
Prometheus Launches PROMETHEUS ®
IBD Serology 7
V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E A T
P R A C T I C A L G A S T R O . C O M
The Most Comprehensive IBD Test Available
Prometheus Laboratories Inc., has launched Prometheus
IBD Serology 7, an advanced diagnostic panel for
inflammatory bowel disease. With an overall accuracy
of 92%, this diagnostic test is the most comprehensive
IBD test available with proprietary markers to help
physicians diagnose inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
and to differentiate the subtypes of Crohn’s disease and
ulcerative colitis.
The Prometheus IBD Serology 7 test uses seven
assays, including the new proprietary marker, anti-
CBir1, as compared to three assays used by most other
laboratories. The anti-CBir1 marker helps identify
patients with Crohn’s disease, including a unique subset
of patients with Crohn’s disease not previously
detected by other serologic markers.
In addition to the new marker, Prometheus IBD
Serology 7 uses a Smart Diagnostic Algorithm (SDA)
to calculate the serologic test results. The SDA technology
derives meaning from complicated data by
extracting patterns and detecting trends that are generally
too complex to be detected by other statistical
means.
“The combination of the new anti-CBir1 marker
and SDA technology is an exciting advance in the field
of IBD diagnostic testing and can provide valuable
information to clinicians who use this test as part of
their diagnostic workup,” said Dr. William Sandborn,
Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of
Medicine.
“Most serology tests require a trade-off between
sensitivity and specificity. Prometheus IBD Serology 7
is unprecedented in that it has over 90% sensitivity and
specificity for IBD patients in one test,” stated Dr.
Bruce Neri, Prometheus’ Vice President, Diagnostic
Research & Development. “To gain these levels of performance,
we revolutionized our approach, not only by
adding a new marker, but also by analyzing the data
with a new pattern recognition algorithm. The result is
the first test of its kind.”
Boston Scientific Launches Radial Jaw ® 4,
Newest Version of Single-Use Biopsy Forceps
New Jaw Configuration Designed
to Yield Larger Tissue Specimens
and Improve Procedural Outcomes
Boston Scientific Corporation announced the U.S.
launch of the newest version of its Radial Jaw ® Single-
Use Biopsy Forceps, featuring more jaw volume and
an improved jaw design compared to the market-leading
Radial Jaw 3 Forceps. Radial Jaw 4 Forceps are
designed to enable collection of large high quality tissue
specimens without the need to use large channel
therapeutic endoscopes.
Acquiring tissue for diagnosis via biopsy is the
most frequently performed procedure by gastroenterologists.
In 2005, approximately 5.8 million endoscopic
biopsy procedures were performed in the U.S.
to diagnose various gastrointestinal diseases, including
esophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus, gastritis, Crohn’s disease,
ulcerative colitis and cancer.
The new jaw configuration of the Radial Jaw 4
Forceps is intended to provide larger tissue specimens
than Radial Jaw 3 Forceps in order to facilitate tissue
sample handling and preparation for accurate histological
diagnosis. The forceps are also designed for
consistent sample retention and enhanced passability.
The Radial Jaw 4 Forceps can now extract a large
tissue specimen through a 3.2 mm working channel of
an endoscope, as opposed to the 3.7 mm working
channel required with a previous version.
“Biopsies are critical for the accurate diagnosis of
any gastrointestinal disorder,” said Russell Yang,
M.D., Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern
California. “The new enhancements to Radial Jaw
4 Forceps, such as the ability to use a smaller, more
common endoscope and still acquire large samples,
make the Radial Jaw even more valuable for acquiring
tissue to accurately diagnose a patient’s condition.”
PRACTICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY • SEPTEMBER 2006 119