BOARD CERTIFIED PHYSICIAN

Frequently you may see enrollment materials, advertisements and other documents that use the term “board certified physician”. Health care organizations such as HMO’s often promote the fact that their provider network includes many board certified physicians. What does it mean when a physician is board certified?

After completing medical school and residency training, most physicians decide to specialize in a specific area of medicine (e.g. internal medicine, pediatrics, etc.). If a physician wants to be certified in a specialized area, they must pass an exam given by the board of that particular specialty. When the physician passes this exam and meets certain other board requirements, they become known as “board certified” in that specialty. Physician specialists can take another step and also choose to become a “board certified” sub-specialist (e.g. rheumatology is a sub-specialty of internal medicine) by receiving additional training and passing another exam. Many boards also require specialists and sub-specialists to be re-certified periodically.

These specialty boards belong to an organization called the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). ABMS keeps a record of all physicians who have been board certified by one of its 24 specialty boards.

You can look for a board certified physician or check your doctors’ board status on the ABMS web site at www.abms.org under "Who's Certified" Some state medical licensing boards also have web sites that will direct you on how to check physician board certification status.