BACKGROUND:
Within the United States, Emergency Medicine is recognized as a specialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). Responsibilities of specialty status include accrediting graduate medical education training programs and credentialing physicians as certified specialists. In the U.S., Emergency Medicine training is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Review Committee – Emergency Medicine (ACGME RC-EM), or the American Osteopathic Association Council on Postdoctoral Training – Emergency Medicine (AOA COPT-EM). The primary Emergency Medicine certifying bodies in the U.S. are the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) and the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM). In the case of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) is recognized as an ABMS certifying body in pediatrics, which provides a Certificate of Special Qualifications for pediatricians in the subspecialty of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
It is the role and responsibility of ABEM and AOBEM to contribute to the training standards, assess competency through board certification processes and establish professional practice principles for Emergency Physicians.
CORD has consistently maintained that Emergency Medicine is best learned through residency training unique to the specialty with proof of initial competence to enter unrestricted practice of medicine through educational assessment and passage of either the ABEM or AOBEM certification examination.
Residents in training or other physicians who do not meet these criteria are less likely to possess the cognitive and technical skill set necessary for rendering unsupervised care for the tremendous breadth and acuity of situations encountered in an ED.
Many outstanding physicians contributed to the creation of Emergency Medicine into an independent medical specialty. These physicians are recognized for their dedication and unique role in our specialty’s history.
Approved by the Board of Directors: March 31, 2013