Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess the sentiments of Movement Disorders fellowship program directors regarding the accreditation and certification of their subspecialty. Our study also explores potential benefits and barriers to pursuing the accreditation and certification of this subspecialty. 

Background: The subspecialty of Movement Disorders does not have an accredited fellowship program in place. There is also no form of certification of trainees who graduate from these fellowship programs by the ABPN or the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties (UCNS).  Many specialties have pursued accreditation and certification to ensure uniformity and quality in residency and fellowship training.

Methods: A 15-question survey was distributed to 43 Movement Disorders program directors. The survey included questions that addressed not only program director’s sentiments regarding accreditation and certification, but also addressed Movement Disorder fellowship program size, curricula, didactics, and research requirements. The program directors were selected from the San Francisco Match website. Two follow-up emails were sent to the program directors. The response rate was 67.4%. 

Results: Our study suggested that 48.3% of program directors are in favor of accreditation and 51.7% are in favor of pursuing a certifying examination. 37.9% of program directors did not favor accreditation and 34.5% of program directors did not favor certification. The remaining respondents were indifferent to pursuing both accreditation and certification. Our study also reveals that lack of uniformity amongst Movement Disorders fellowship programs and lack of funding for such programs are the most concerning barriers to pursuing accreditation and certification. 

Conclusions: Our study supports that sentiments towards accrediting and certifying the Movement Disorders subspecialty are bimodal in distribution. Our study confirms that the field of Movement Disorders education is lacking in terms of standardization, and regardless of the accreditation or certification status, standardization is important to the advancement of the subspecialty. 

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-accreditation-and-certification-of-the-movement-disorders-subspecialty/