American Board of Medical Specialties Releases Updated Board Certification Report

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American Board of Medical Specialties

Jan 24, 2017, 10:00 ET

CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 860,000 physicians are board certified (an increase from the previous 840,000+ reported last year); California, New York, and Texas are the states with the largest number of active physician certificates; and Pediatric Hospital Medicine is the newest subspecialty certification. These are just a sampling of facts and statistics found in the latest ABMS Board Certification Report released by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).

ABMS board certification is held by more than 860,000 physicians. Each year approximately 40,000 specialty and subspecialty certificates are issued to those who demonstrate mastery of core skills and knowledge related to their specialty, pass an ABMS Member Board administered exam, maintain the standards for professionalism and communication, and take part in continued assessment and learning to ensure they remain appropriately up-to-date in their field of practice.

The 2015-2016 ABMS Board Certification Report offers a wide variety of statistics, information, and data about the specialty certification programs administered by the 24 Member Boards that comprise ABMS. The first section of the report features a comprehensive listing of the specialty and subspecialty certificates approved for issue by the 24 certifying boards and the basic requirements physicians must meet for initial certification and maintaining certification. The next section includes database statistics and tables demonstrating trends in the number of specialty and subspecialty certificates issued from 2006 to 2015. It also includes a snapshot of the active certificates held by ABMS Member Board certified physicians according to geographic location. Average age and gender breakdowns of board certified physicians are also called out in accompanying infographics.

Published annually by ABMS, the report can be downloaded from the ABMS website (abms.org) for free. New infographics highlighting the board certification process, professional development, practice areas, and physician characteristics as well as a video featuring highlights from the report are also available on the ABMS website.

About ABMS
Established in 1933, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) continues to be the leading not-for-profit organization overseeing physician certification in the United States. ABMS establishes the standards its 24 Member Boards use to develop and implement educational and professional evaluation, assessment, and certification of physician specialists. More than 860,000 physicians are certified in one or more of the approved 37 specialties and 86 subspecialties offered by the ABMS Member Boards. For more information about ABMS, visit abms.org or call (312) 436-2600.

SOURCE American Board of Medical Specialties