The American College of Radiology (ACR) passed a resolution regarding certifying boards at its annual meeting this week.
In its Resolution #50, the college said that any boards certifying radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, radiation oncologists, and medical physicists should minimize the power imbalance in decision-making between those professionals and the certifying body. Doing so would mean committing to representative, inclusive, and transparent decision-making, according to the ACR.
The ACR also said any such boards should "act in a manner to ensure appropriate balance between all parties, and never act in any manner that directly, indirectly, or otherwise effectively requires radiology professionals to waive any of their fundamental due process rights."
Certifying boards must also seek and respond to input from the ACR Council Steering Committee as a representative body of candidates for certification and diplomates prior to creating, modifying, or implementing new and/or existing policies that affect candidates and diplomates, the college said. Furthermore, the ACR said that the certifying boards should share drafts of participation agreements with all candidates and diplomates in a timely manner to allow for their input before any final decisions concerning participation agreements.
