The designation provisionally verified, as compared with verified, has no impact on the value of your program for trainees. If your fellowship program obtains provisional verification, your trainees may still say that they have completed an ABA-verified burn fellowship training program (VBFTP).
ABA expects that most fellowship programs will time their site reviews to coincide with the ABA’s verification site review for burn center verification. Because burn center verification is a pre-requisite, this approach reduces the cost of program participation. With the launch of the VBFTP in 2021, some burn centers may not yet be scheduled for a burn center verification site review for 1-3 years. For these burn centers, ABA offers the provisional verification option for their fellowship programs.
The ABA fellowship verification designation is based on the year in which in the fellowship begins, and re-verification is required every three years (with the exception of provisionally verified programs). For example, if your program is reviewed at any time during the calendar year 2021, any trainees who began their fellowship in 2021, 2022 or 2023 may say that they completed an ABA-verified burn fellowship.
Provisional verification is valid for up to three years, or until the next burn center verification expiration date.
Verification of your fellowship program requires a site visit, which may be scheduled either in conjunction with your in-person burn center verification site visit, or as an independent fellowship program site visit. However, first-time applicants may also request a provisional review, which requires only an electronic review of submitted documents. Provisional reviews result in a determination of either provisionally verified or not verified.
Due to travel and other restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, ABA is piloting virtual burn center site reviews. If a center participating in a virtual burn center review also requests a review of their fellowship program, the fellowship program would be eligible for a provisional verification based on a review of documents submitted. The in-person site review would then take place within three years, to coincide with the next burn center verification review.
At this time, ABA does not have a virtual option for fellowship program review that fully substitutes for the in-person site visit. Verification of your fellowship program requires an in-person site visit, which may be scheduled either in conjunction with your in-person burn center verification site visit, or as an independent fellowship program site visit.
However, first-time applicants may request an electronic, document-only provisional review, which can result in provisional verification.
ABA bills for quality programs, including the Verified Burn Fellowship Training Program (VBFTP), on an annual basis. For example, your 2022 VBFTP fee covers fellowship training years that begin in 2022, whether your particular program begins in January, June or August 2022. The ABA expects that programs will maintain their verification each year once they have initiated their first review.