Richard E. Hawkins, MD

President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Hawkins is responsible for creating, planning, and implementing the strategic direction of ABMS. The leading not-for-profit organization overseeing physician certification in the United States, ABMS establishes the standards that its 24 Member Boards use to develop and implement educational and professional evaluation, assessment, and certification of physician specialists.

Dr. Hawkins has more than 30 years of professional experience ranging from his service in the United States Navy as an officer in the Medical Corps to leadership positions at national medical professional associations. Prior to joining ABMS in 2018, he served for five years as the Vice President for Medical Education Outcomes at the American Medical Association (AMA). There, Dr. Hawkins provided leadership for the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, a $13.5 million grant program supporting 32 medical schools that are transforming their educational programs to better prepare their students to succeed in the nation’s evolving health care systems. He also provided senior staff leadership to the AMA’s Council on Medical Education and Academic Physician Section.

Previously, Dr. Hawkins was the Senior Vice President for Professional and Scientific Affairs at ABMS. In this role, he led educational, assessment, and international initiatives. Prior to that, Dr. Hawkins was the Deputy Vice President and then Vice President for Assessment Programs at the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). There, he helped implement the Clinical Skills Examination of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, develop its assessment of professional behaviors program, and enhance the post-licensure assessment system for NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards. Prior to joining NBME, Dr. Hawkins was Assistant Dean and Director of the Simulation Center at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Additionally, he served in various academic appointments in the Naval Medical Corps, receiving numerous commendations for his service.

A well-respected leader in the fields of physician assessment and education, Dr. Hawkins has more than 20 years of experience working on various initiatives to evaluate and improve physician performance, and is co-editor of a textbook on the assessment of clinical competence. He has given more than 80 presentations; conducted 30-plus courses and workshops; and published more than 70 articles, books, and book chapters. Dr. Hawkins is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is participating in Maintenance of Certification.