ABA Insights and Innovation Recognized at ABMS Annual Meeting 2026

The American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) contributed expertise and accepted awards at the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Conference 2026.

Over the course of four days, ABA staff and one member of the Board of Directors presented in sessions on workforce development, innovations in assessment and certification and continuing certification. Presenters shared insights into the educational innovations shaping anesthesiology training and certification, including the ABA’s pilot of a new formative assessment for trainees, Resident Reach. Other topics included AI-enabled scoring, longitudinal assessment and workforce readiness.

ABA Executive Director, Michele Pore, and ABMS Member Board Empowered Representative, Bob Gaiser, M.D. accepted the inaugural ABMS Innovation Award on behalf of the organization for the development and implementation of MOCA Minute. The Innovation Award recognizes individuals, teams or organizations that have demonstrated truly innovative advancements in a field of medical specialty education and/or the specialty certification process. Based on the success of MOCA Minute, all 24 ABMS Member Boards have adopted some form of longitudinal assessment as part of their continuing certification programs.

During the ABMS research poster session, Emily Toutkoushian, Ph.D., team lead of psychometrics, received a Recognition Award for the poster “Distributed or Batched? Engagement Strategies and Performance in Longitudinal Assessment,” showcasing research conducted collaboratively with Youngjun Lee, Ph.D. senior psychometrician; Susan Hibbard, Ph.D., director of psychometrics & research; and ABA Directors Jill Eckert, D.O. and Robert Isaak, D.O

Browse more photos of the ABA at ABMS’ 2026 conference in the full album here.

ABA Sessions at ABMS 2026

• Aligning Training, Milestones, and Certification to Assess Workforce Readiness — Ann Harman, chief assessments officer, and Tianpeng Ye, senior psychometrician
• Innovations in Certification and Accreditation Assessments: AI-Enabled Scoring, Feedback Analysis, and Longitudinal Assessment Item Calibration — Anna Menzies, director of assessment development & delivery
• The Next Era of Assessment — Innovating for the Future (Resident Reach) — Mohammed Minhaj, M.D., Board director
• The Importance of Psychological Safety for Today’s Member Board Community Workforce and AI Literacy at Board Staff Level — Jennifer Hopp, director of human resources

ABA Research Poster Presentations at ABMS 2026:

1. Distributed or Batched? Engagement Strategies and Performance in Longitudinal Assessment (First-prize ribbon awarded) — Emily Toutkoushian, Ph.D., team lead of psychometrics; Youngjun Lee, Ph.D., senior psychometrician; Susan Hibbard, Ph.D., director of psychometricians & research; and Board Directors Jiapeng Huang, M.D. and Mohammed Minhaj, M.D.
   
   Drawing from four years of MOCA Minute data, ABA researchers examined how physicians engage with longitudinal assessment and found that while many complete questions in large batches, those who spread questions out over time showed slightly higher performance. The full poster is available here.
2. Taking Leave During Anesthesiology Residency: Reasons for Leave and Associations with Board Certification Outcomes — Ni Bei, Ph.D., senior psychometrician; Susan Hibbard, Ph.D., director of psychometrics & research, Tianpeng Ye, Ph.D., senior psychometrician; and Board Directors Jill Eckert, D.O. and Robert Isaak, D.O.
   
   Using data from residents across 160 anesthesiology training programs, ABA researchers found that taking a leave of absence during residency, including longer or multiple leaves, was generally not associated with poorer performance on subsequent ABA certification examinations. The full poster is available here.