American Board of Physician Specialties

The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) is a non-profit umbrella organization for nine of the 26 approved medical specialty boards in the United States. It is one of three leading entities overseeing physician certification in the United States. The ABPS assists its Member Boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists.

ABPS is recognized by the key healthcare accreditation organizations as a primary equivalent source of physician board certification data on medical specialists for credentialing purposes.

History
The concept of a specialty board was first proposed in 1908 by Dr. Derrick T. Vail. In 1917, ophthalmology became the first officially incorporated board. The second specialty board, the American Board of Otolaryngology, was founded and incorporated in 1924. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1930) and the American Board of Dermatology and Syphilology (1932) followed. In 1934 an advisory board for all four specialty groups was organized. By 1948 there were 18 specialty boards in the United States.

Founded in 1950 by Dr. E.O. Martin and incorporated in 1952, ABPS was established to provide a clinically recognized structure for board certification and recertification of qualified physicians who have either an allopathic (M.D.) or osteopathic (D.O.) degree training and advanced training one of the AAPS affiliated medical specialties. Since 1984, AAPS has provided a headquarters for medical specialty boards of certification, meeting this essential need in the healthcare delivery system. In 2006 ABPS added the 26th medical specialty board on Disaster Medicine.

The membership of the ABPS consists of the chairperson of each of the nine autonomous boards of certification, three appointed Diplomates, two non-physician public members, and three ex-officio members from the American Association of Physician Specialists (AAPS) Board of Directors. ABPS is the first medical certification board in the United States to include active participation of public members. Public members also serve on the nine ABPS-affiliated boards of certification.

Member boards

 * American Board of Disaster Medicine
 * Board of Certification in Anesthesiology
 * Board of Certification in Emergency Medicine
 * Board of Certification in Family Practice
 * Board of Certification in Geriatric Medicine
 * Board of Certification in Internal Medicine
 * Board of Certification in Orthopaedic Surgery
 * Board of Certification in Radiology
 * Board of Certification in Surgery