ExPERT FAQ

APSA’s ExPERT (Exam-based Pediatric surgery Educational Reference Tool) continuing medical education (CME) program is designed to help practicing pediatric surgeons incorporate the available medical literature into the care of their patients. The material presented has been developed by experts in the field. Questions are regularly reviewed and revised or retired after no more than five years. Each scenario, question, answer and discussion section has been reviewed by the APSA Pediatric Surgery Self-Assessment Program and/or Continuing Medical Education Subcommittees of the APSA Education Committee.

The goal of the program is to provide pediatric surgeons with a broad-based educational experience using current evidence-based literature and practical experience. It addresses maintenance of certification (MOC) needs and the scope of the core competencies as defined by the American Board of Surgery (ABS).

ExPERT offers CME credit from:

Pre-created Courses

• Spaced Learning Program – Based on the adult learning principle that repetition aids in retention, APSA’s Spaced Learning Program provides subscribers with two MOC CME-eligible questions every week via an e-mail link. One question is based on a previously discussed topic and one question covers new material. This service is provided for ExPERT subscribers only.
• PSSAP – The Pediatric Surgery Self-Assessment Program (PSSAP) is designed to provide pediatric surgeons with a broad-based educational experience using the current literature. Each exam provides a series of MOC CME-eligible questions that include an evidence-based discussion and references. PSSAP covers the core competencies of pediatric surgery as defined by the American Board of Surgery (ABS).
• Critical Care, Oncology, Trauma – A variety of pre-created tests have been created for these specific topics that many pediatric surgeons need to address.

User-generated Courses

• Custom Courses – A robust search engine helps users design their own MOC CME courses based on keyword searches. This allows for efficient point-of-care CME as well as topic specific (e.g., trauma) courses for those requiring specific subject-based CME.
• Random Courses – Users may ask the system to generate courses based on randomly selected questions from the APSA ExPERT system.

Where do the questions come from?

ExPERT content is generated in response to practice gaps identified by APSA. Questions and discussions are authored and submitted to the APSA CME or PSSAP committees for review.  Each discussion contains the initials of the author and final reviewer. APSA is indebted to the content authors and reviewers.

What is the Spaced Learning Program?

Based on the adult learning principle that repetition aids in retention, APSA’s Spaced Learning program provides subscribers with 2 MOC CME-eligible questions every week via an e-mail link. One question is based on a previously discussed topic, and one question covers new material.

How do I participate in the Spaced Learning Program?

The Spaced Learning Program is available as part of the full ExPERT subscription and cannot be purchased separately.

When and how do I receive the questions?

APSA’s Spaced Learning Program provides subscribers with two MOC CME-eligible questions every week via a link distributed to the e-mail account associated with your APSA membership.Once you’ve purchased a subscription, you must log in to ExPERT using your regular APSA username and password to activate the two weekly Spaced Learning Program (SLP) questions. Questions are sent every Sunday and can be completed on desktop computers, tablets and smartphones. Each correctly answered Spaced Learning Program question equals 0.125 CME credit.

What if I delete one of the e-mails before I answer the questions?

Contact APSA Headquarters and note the date(s) of the question you need, and we will resend the e-mail link to you.

What are the ExPERT Courses?

The ExPERT courses allow you to choose from pre-created, random and custom courses. Use it to earn MOC CME, as a refresher, as a point-of-care knowledge resource or all of the above.

What are my options for taking ExPERT courses?

Log in to the ExPERT platform for:

• Pre-Created Course – choose from a list of pre-created courses including all the PSSAP (Pediatric Surgery Self-Assessment Program) exams and literature reviews (see below). Go to the “Browse Courses” tab.
• Random Course – generate an 8-question MOC CME self-assessment course randomly pulled from previously unanswered questions in the ExPERT question pool.
• Custom Course – design your own MOC CME courses based on a keyword search. This allows for efficient point-of-care CME, as well as topic-specific (e.g., trauma) courses for those requiring specific subject-based MOC CME.

What are Literature Reviews?

APSA offers MOC CME eligible questions based on the articles of interest literature reviews created by various APSA committees. The literature reviews are emailed to APSA members.

Where do I find the Literature Reviews?

Click on the green “Browse Courses” tab at the top of the page. The literature review questions are found under “Article Based.”

Why aren’t some questions eligible for CME?

You may obtain credit only once for correctly answered questions; this includes any claimed credit for exams on the previous CME platform. Questions marked with a building icon are available for MOC CME credit. One of the highlights of the ExPERT program is the ability to access any question, even after earning credit for it, for reference, education and real-time point-of-care knowledge.

How do I earn CME credits though ExPERT?

Users earn 0.125 CME credit for each successfully completed question. The system keeps a tally on your total CME credits. Users are offered unlimited attempts to answer questions correctly in order to meet the 75% requirement.

Each correctly answered question equals 0.125 CME credit.

Why aren’t some questions eligible for CME?

You may obtain CME credit only once for correctly answered questions; this includes any exams you had taken on the previous APSA CME platform. Questions marked with a building icon are available for CME credit. One of the highlights of the ExPERT program is the ability to access any question, even after earning CME for it, for reference, education and real-time point-of-care knowledge.

How can I tell if a question is available for CME?

Questions marked with a building icon are available for credit. 

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I am having trouble with my log in.

Contact APSA Headquarters for login problems

I have a problem with a question or with the ExPERT system.

E-mail your question or concern to info@apsapedsurgeon.org, and we will contact you to provide help.