American Board of Thoracic Surgery

The American Board of Thoracic Surgery's primary purpose and most essential function is to protect the public by establishing and maintaining high standards in thoracic surgery. To achieve these objectives, the Board has established qualifications for examination and procedures for certification and recertification. The requirements and procedures are reviewed regularly and modified as necessary.

Board certification
Board certification in a medical specialty is evidence that a physician's qualifications for specialty practice are recognized by his or her peers. It is not intended to define the requirements for membership on hospital staffs, to gain special recognition or privileges for its Diplomates, to define the scope of specialty practice, or to state who may or may not engage in the practice of the specialty. Specialty certification of a physician does not relieve a hospital's governing body from responsibility in determining the hospital privileges of such specialist.

The Board does not use or sanction the terms "board eligible" or "board qualified." The Board does not consider any physician to be a candidate for examination until he or she has made formal application and has been accepted for examination. Acceptance for examination acknowledges only that the candidate has successfully fulfilled the requirements and does not recognize that he or she is a specialist in thoracic surgery.

History
The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) first discussed certification of thoracic surgeons at its 1936 meeting in Rochester, Minnesota, but it was the consensus that no need for certification existed at that time. As a result of the rapid growth and importance of thoracic surgery as a specialty during the succeeding years, the need for a specialty board in thoracic surgery became apparent.

Recognizing that a large part of its membership wanted such a board, the AATS President reappointed the original committee in 1945 to study the matter. The committee's report at the 1946 AATS meeting, held in Detroit, prompted a recommendation that a Board of Thoracic Surgery be formed in affiliation with the American Board of Surgery.

An AATS committee was appointed to confer with a similar committee appointed by the American Board of Surgery. The necessary steps with the Advisory Board of Medical Specialties were accomplished, and at the AATS meeting held in St. Louis in May 1947, the committee's report was submitted and adopted unanimously.

Through negotiations, a plan of organization was worked out and approved by the American Board of Surgery and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery at their respective meetings in Quebec in 1948. The organization of the Board of Thoracic Surgery was structured in accordance with the provisions of the plan, and the first, or organizational, meeting was held in Detroit on October 2, 1948.

On January 1, 1971, the Board of Thoracic Surgery became a primary board and changed its name to the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. It is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) which encompasses twenty-four specialties with primary Boards. The purpose of these Boards is to certify physicians who have completed an ACGME-approved residency in a specialty. The certification process has been instituted in the public interest.