ABIM change to transplant hepatology procedural standards

The American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Gastroenterology Board recently passed a resolution that will update the procedural competency standards in transplant hepatology fellowships. Starting with the 2016-2017 academic year, the following procedural competencies for initial certification in transplant hepatology will go into effect.

The revised competencies include:

• Demonstrate competence in performing native and allograft liver biopsy and interpretation of results
• A minimum of 20 liver biopsies, including native and alograft, should be performed
  • Biopsies performed prior to transplant hepatology fellowship (e.g., during GI fellowship) may count toward this minimum
• A minimum of 200 liver biopsies, including native and allograft, should be interpreted during the transplant hepatology fellowship year using resources available within the fellowship program and/or from outside resources such as teaching slide-sets
• Demonstrate knowledge of the indications, contraindications, limitations, complications, alternatives, and techniques of native and allograft liver biopsy and nininvasive methods of fibrosis assessment