American Board of Medical Specialties Names Members of Newly Formed Stakeholder Council

Council will serve as advisory body representing volunteer physician, patient, and public interests

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American Board of Medical Specialties

Oct 29, 2018, 11:00 ET

CHICAGO, Oct. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has named the members of its newly formed Stakeholder Council at the October 25-26, 2018 Board of Directors (BOD) meeting in Chicago. An advisory body representing the interests of volunteer physicians, patients and the public, the Stakeholder Council was established to ensure that the decisions of the ABMS BOD are grounded in an understanding of the perspectives, concerns and interests of the multiple constituents impacted by ABMS' work.

"The Stakeholder Council will be a valuable resource to the ABMS Board and the entire Boards Community," stated ABMS Board Chair Barry S. Smith, MD. "As the constituents and stakeholders who are impacted by the work of the Boards, the Council members will offer a needed perspective on our work, including strategic initiatives, policies, and certification programs as well as provide recommendations on strategic directions and proactively raise issues for the Board to consider."

The Council is composed of five representatives from the ABMS Associate Members, six public members, two at-large ABMS Member Board Executives or Directors/Trustees, one member from the greater credentialing community, and up to 10 practicing physicians. The ABMS BOD officers, including ABMS President and Chief Executive Officer Richard E. Hawkins, MD, will serve as ex-officio voting members of the Council as well.

A total of 126 completed nominations were submitted through an open nomination process held earlier this summer. In addition to the ABMS officer members, the new Stakeholder Council include:

Active Diplomates

Nels Carlson, MD (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation)
Charles Cutler, MD (Internal Medicine)
Rachel Dawkins, MD (Pediatrics)
Nitika Gupta, MBBS, DCH, DNB, MRCPCH (Pediatric Transplant Hepatology)
Julius Hamilton, MD (Anesthesiology)
Caitlin Hicks, MD, MS (Surgery)
Diane Reis, MD, MPH (Psychiatry)
Joel Schuman, MD (Ophthalmology)
Mark Shaffrey, MD (Neurological Surgery)
John Patrick Walker, MD (Surgery)

At-Large Members

Marianne Gausche-Hill, MD (Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine)
Kevin Murphy, MD (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine)

Associate Members

Carol Berkowitz, MD (Pediatrics)
Ricardo Correa Marquez, MD, EsD (Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism)
Cynthia Jumper, MD, MPH (Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine/Pulmonary Disease/Hospice and Palliative Care)
Melissa Margolis, PhD
Tracey Milligan, MD, MS (Neurology, Epilepsy)

Credentialing Community Representative

Diane Meldi, MBA, CPCS, CPMSM

Public Members

Donald Elliman
Frederic Hafferty, PhD
Rebecca LeBuhn, MA
Marci Nielsen, MPH, PhD
Amy Ohmer
Donald Palmisano, Jr., JD

"We look forward to working with the members of the Stakeholder Council and to the contributions they will make to the work of the Boards Community," noted Dr. Hawkins. "Their insights and particular points of view are important. The Stakeholder Council is another example of our commitment to improve our programs and processes based on the needs of our key stakeholders."

About ABMS
Established in 1933, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is 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, helping to improve the quality of care to the patients, families and communities we serve. More than 880,000 physicians are certified in one or more of the approved 40 specialties and 85 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