The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) – in partnership with its 24 Member Boards – sets standards for board certification to ensure that physicians and medical specialists (known as diplomates) have the knowledge, judgment, and skills to practice safely and skillfully within their chosen specialty.
Board certification by one or more ABMS Member Board indicates that a diplomate has gone above and beyond basic medical training to demonstrate proficiency in a particular specialty. And while board certification is not required to practice medicine, the fact that more than one million physicians and medical specialists in this country have chosen to become board certified speaks to its value.
Initial Certification
Initial board certification evaluates six core competencies integral to the delivery of high-quality patient care. The competencies were co-developed by ABMS and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. They are:
- Practice-based Learning and Improvement – Show ability to investigate and evaluate patient care practices, appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and improve practice.
- Patient Care and Procedural Skills – Provide care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and promotes health.
- Systems-based Practice – Exhibit awareness of and responsibility for systems of health care and be able to call on system resources to provide optimal care.
- Medical Knowledge – Demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate sciences and their application in patient care.
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills – Demonstrate skills that result in effective information exchange and partnering with patients, their families, and professional associates.
- Professionalism – Show a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to diverse patient populations.
The core competencies are an extension of the milestones physicians and medical specialists must meet during training, and they are the basis for continuing certification assessment.
Continuing Certification
In 2021, the ABMS Board of Directors approved new Standards for Continuing Certification, effective Jan. 1, 2024. The standards reflect recommendations made in 2019 by an independent commission – the Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission – calling for the Member Boards to create formative processes that offer opportunities for learning and improvement, and an alternative to the secure, point-in-time examinations of knowledge.
As part of the continuing certification program, the 10-year high-stakes exam was replaced by modular or longitudinal assessments that support learning by providing timely feedback on performance; identifying gaps in knowledge; and encouraging engagement in improving the health of patients and health care provided in the systems in which the diplomates work.
Moreover, formative assessments taken across a few years are used by the boards to reach a summative decision about a diplomate’s certification status. This important second step in the certification process aligns the learning with demonstrated specialty knowledge and judgment.
Value of ABMS Board Certification
Substantial evidence demonstrates the positive association between ABMS Member Board certification and patient safety, health care costs, disciplinary actions, and clinical outcomes. Research shows that diplomates participating in continuing certification:
- Demonstrate better adherence to clinical guidelines and clinical outcomes;
- Maintain safer prescribing practices;
- Have an accelerated uptake of new evidence;
- Provide more efficient and more accurate diagnoses;
- Engage in quality improvement; and
- Experience fewer adverse licensing actions.
Uniform Professional Standards
Adoption of a common baseline definition of specialty certification ensures that patients can trust the integrity of the credential and provides policymakers and health care organizations with clear guidance for evaluating certification programs. To uphold the integrity of physician credentialing organizations, policymakers are adopting uniform professional standards and definitions for legitimate certification bodies.
For instance, in 2024, the Colorado legislature included a definition of national board certification in its medical practice act for the first time. More notably, the United States Congress adopted standards that recognize certifying bodies for physicians serving the more than 130,000-person workforce of the Defense Health Agency. In both cases, ABMS Member Boards were recognized as meeting the criteria defined by the legislation. These legislative changes were based on language previously developed by the medical profession and adopted by the American Medical Association as well as the definition established by experts at the Institute for Credentialing Excellence.
ABMS serves the public and the medical profession by offering a trusted board certification credential – the gold standard for recognizing the competence and professionalism of physicians and medical specialists. It is also a credential that health care organizations can rely upon.
| Rigorous Process ABMS board certification is rigorous by design. Member Boards:
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