Practice Analysis: Developing a Content Outline for the Child Abuse Pediatrics Certification Exam

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Medical Education
• Child Abuse Pediatrics

Background:

• Board certification examinations must evolve to match contemporary medical practice.
• The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) recognized the need to update the Child Abuse Pediatrics (CAP) certification process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To revise the ABP's CAP content outline to accurately reflect the knowledge and skills essential for modern practitioners.
• To ensure the board certification examination adequately assesses the competencies required in child abuse pediatrics.

Main Methods:

• A 12-member panel of practicing child abuse pediatricians conducted a comprehensive practice analysis.
• The panel identified and documented key practice domains, tasks, knowledge, and skills.
• Testable knowledge areas were organized into content domains and subdomains, leading to an updated ABP CAP content outline.
• Feedback on the revised outline was solicited from all ABP board-certified child abuse pediatricians via an online survey.

Main Results:

• The practice analysis identified and defined the core competencies for child abuse pediatricians.
• The ABP CAP content outline was updated based on the practice analysis findings.
• Survey feedback from certified physicians informed the final revisions to the content outline.

Conclusions:

• The revised ABP CAP content outline ensures the certification examination accurately represents the demands of modern child abuse pediatric practice.
• The updated examination framework will better equip physicians to provide high-quality care to children experiencing abuse and neglect.