Background
As the ACGME is the umbrella organization for the RRCs, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is the corresponding organization for the specialty boards; but there is an important difference: the ACGME has veto power over actions of the RRCs, whereas the ABMS cannot veto actions of the individual boards.
The ABMS was formed in 1933 as the Advisory Board of Medical Specialties by representatives from primary boards, the AMA Council on Medical Education, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Hospital Association, the Federation of State Medical Licensing Boards, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. In 1970, the name was changed to the American Board of Medical Specialties, which became a founding parent of the Liaison Committees on Undergraduate, Graduate, and Continuing Medical Education.
The primary function of the American Board of Medical Specialties is to assist its member boards in their efforts to certify specialists. It may coordinate, lead, or participate in collective efforts to these ends. As desired by member boards, the ABMS may also represent them in relationships with other organizations and provide information to the public, the government, the profession, and, especially, to its members. Underlying each of these functions is a commitment to the health of the public through activities that strengthen the qualifications of a physician for practice.
It is also important to understand the roles of other related groups. The function of individual specialty boards is to certify candidates who possess the knowledge and skills necessary to meet established educational standards.
Academic groups provide leadership in specialty medicine through education and research; specialty societies determine the dimensions of the specialty. Thus, the boards that judge, the faculty groups that lead, and the specialty societies that legislate may be likened to the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of the government. Each of these arms provides balances and checks to the privileges of the others. This separation of duties is critical, since no one body can credibly lead, legislate and judge.
The first board to incorporate was the American Board of Ophthalmology, formed in 1917. Since then, 23 additional boards have been recognized by the ABMS. The standards for recognition of a new board are so rigorous that only six new boards have been approved in the past 25 years. Presently, about two-thirds of all United States physicians are certified specialists.
Mission and Purposes
The ABMS is an organization of approved medical specialty boards. The mission of the ABMS is to maintain and improve the quality of medical care by assisting the Member Boards in their efforts to develop and utilize professional and educational standards for the evaluation and certification of physician specialists. The intent of the certification of physicians is to provide assurance to the public that a physician specialist certified by a Member Board of the ABMS has successfully completed an approved educational program and evaluation process which includes an examination designed to assess the knowledge, skills, and experience required to provide quality patient care in that specialty. The ABMS serves to coordinate the activities of its Member Boards and to provide information to the public, the government, the profession and its Members concerning issues involving specialization and certification in medicine.
In fulfilling its mission, the ABMS shall, as the coordinating body, be organized to fulfill the following purposes:
- Participate in the establishment of standards and requirements for graduate medical education in the respective specialties represented by the Member Boards.
- Ensure that all Member Boards establish and maintain standards for the administration of examinations for certification.
- Set standards for, receive, and act upon applications from Member Boards for approval of new types of certification, modification of existing types of certification, and related matters.
- Ensure that all Boards establish criteria and approve standards endorsed by all Boards for admission of candidates to the certifying examinations.
- Encourage research in methods of education, evaluation, and examination leading to certification.
- Coordinate activities of the Member medical specialty boards with the aim of avoiding duplication of effort and preventing, or resolving problems encountered among and between the Member Boards.
- Receive and act upon applications for membership by proposed new specialty boards.
- Serve as a central registry for the public dissemination of information about the certification status of all those individuals certified by the Member Boards.
- Represent the Member Boards in communication with other groups, agencies or individuals, public or private, with respect to matters of common interest to the Members.
- Exchange information among Member Boards and any other organizations that will enhance the goals, quality, and efficiency of the Member Boards.
- Serve as a forum for discussion among Member Boards and other health care organizations about the education, evaluation, and certification of physician specialists.
- Conduct educational programs designed to make information about the board certification process and the certification status of physician specialists readily available to the public and throughout the profession in an easily understood manner.
- Monitor issues and establish liaison with organizations involved in graduate medical education and evaluation of physician competence, where appropriate, and distribute information about graduate medical education and the evaluation of physician competence to the Members of ABMS.
Revised by the ABMS Assembly, 9/23/93. All information is gathered from the American Board of Medical Specialties Research & Education Foundation 1997 Annual Report & Reference Handbook See the ABMS web site for the current version.
