LA-PMR

All You Need to Know for LA-PM&R 2024

Enrollment for LA-PM&R (longitudinal assessment for PM&R) 2024 is now open! If you have been participating in LA-PM&R, you know how the platform and assessment works. To ensure you are prepared for LA-PM&R 2024, this article will give an overview of everything you need to know about timing of the assessment, using the platform, scoring, and structure of the assessment. To see a demonstration of using the LA-PM&R platform and assessment, watch the LA-PM&R tutorial at the bottom of the page.

Enrolling:

Even if you have already been participating in LA-PM&R, you must re-enroll each year. To enroll in LA-PM&R 2024:

1. Sign in to your ABPMR.org account

2. Ensure all past and current annual fees are up-to-date, including 2023* (Need to make a payment? Go to the Online Payment Center)

3. From the Welcome Back dropdown menu, select 'Assessment Dashboard'

4. Select Longitudinal Assessment

5. Scroll down and click the ‘Apply’ button for Longitudinal Assessment for PM&R 2024

6. Complete the steps to enroll!

*There is no additional fee for LA-PM&R; all annual fees to participate in the CC (Continuing Certification) program must be paid to enroll in LA-PM&R.

On-time window: Enroll by January 31, 2024

Late window: If you enroll on February 1, 2024, or later, you'll be assessed a $100 late fee.

Assessment Deadlines:

Complete each quarter by 11:59 pm EST

Quarter 1: Questions open in mid-January, answer by March 31

Quarter 2: Questions open April 1, answer by June 30

Quarter 3: Questions open July 1, answer by September 30

Quarter 4: Questions open October 1, answer by December 20

Questions do not carry over from quarter to quarter. If you leave questions in a quarter unattempted or unanswered, they will be counted as incorrect.

Assessment Questions:

Your performance in each quarter determines how many questions you have the following quarter, so the number of questions varies for each diplomate. Here’s how many and the type of questions to expect each quarter:

• Quarter 1: 20 questions

• Quarter 2: 15 new questions + any reattempts from Q1

• Quarter 3: 15 new questions + any reattempts from Q2

• Quarter 4: 10 article-based questions + any reattempts from Q3

Read more about reattempt questions and article-based questions.

Remember, you will receive full credit if you correctly answer a reattempt question in any quarter. If you incorrectly answer an article-based question in Quarter 4, you will immediately be given a reattempt and will receive full credit if you answer that correctly. Reattempt questions offer an opportunity to receive full credit on previously missed questions— as if you never missed them at all.

Each question has a three-minute time limit to answer; article-based questions have a 15-minute time limit.

Article-Based Questions

Article-based questions appear only in Quarter 4 of your LA-PM&R assessment. They are 10 questions based on 5 articles in the field of PM&R; you select the articles you would like to be assessed on.

Articles can be selected beginning on October 3 (the start of Quarter 4). You will see 10 article names when you login to the platform to choose your articles— from these 10 articles, you select 5 you want to read and be assessed on (all articles can be previewed before selecting).

You can access the articles before answering your questions and can also access the articles while completing your questions. There is a 15-minute time limit for each article-based question to ensure you have enough time to read the article and answer the question.

If you answer an article-based question incorrectly, you are immediately given a rationale to read, then can reattempt the question to receive full credit— as if you never answered the question incorrectly. You can also review the article before answering the reattempt if needed.

Watch the video below to see how to select article-based questions and how they will appear on the assessment:

Scoring:

We are currently in the process of determining the performance standard for LA-PM&R, which requires a few years of LA-PM&R data. The standard will be set soon. Once the standard is set, this will be communicated to all participants in an assessment cycle and you’ll be able to measure your performance against the standard at the completion of each year. We encourage you to use your LA-PM&R dashboard to track your real-time progress and ensure the quarterly requirements are being met.

Your LA-PM&R performance is tracked over four years, or 16 quarters. In year five of your cycle, the final assessment is made to determine if you met the performance standard. The lowest four quarters are dropped in this final assessment— this allows time for a break or time away from participation.

Any diplomates not meeting the performance standard can regain certification by undergoing another five-year LA-PM&R assessment cycle (while expired) or by passing the Re-Entry Examination, which is based on the blueprint and difficulty level of the Part I Examination. We anticipate the primary reason for loss of certification will be non-participation or professionalism issues, not performance. If you’re at risk of not meeting the performance standard, we’ll be reaching out with information and resources for remediation.

Read more about scoring.

What Else to Know

LA-PM&R participants will be awarded three (3) Self-Assessment CME (SA-CME) credits per quarter, or up to 12 credits per year, for full participation in LA-PM&R—meaning it counts toward both your assessment and lifelong learning requirements. Read more about SA-CME.

LA-PM&R Platform and Assessment Demonstration:

Your LA-PM&R platform is a powerful and helpful tool to assist you in your annual LA-PM&R participation. Here you can set goals for completing questions, see your quarterly progress, review questions you've previously missed, and customize your assessment questions.

The video below is a tutorial for using your LA-PM&R platform and completing the assessment; you will learn how to:

• Access the LA-PM&R platform (:10)
• Customize your assessment (:32)
• Start and answer questions (2:00)
• Review key points, rationales, and references for every question you answer (3:25)
• Set up reminders and deadlines to learn on your own schedule (4:07)
• Select articles for article-based questions (5:23)
• Answer/reattempt an article-based question (6:20)