The American Board of Internal Medicine is making several changes to its maintenance of certification requirements, but, so far, it is not enough to quell the still-growing tide of anger and resentment against the process.
The ABIM announced the changes just ahead of a July 15 "summit" with 26 specialty societies that receive certification through the organization, and outlined them in a detailed letter that was sent to internal medicine diplomates on July 28. That correspondence also responded in detail to a May 7 letter sent by the American College of Physicians (ACP) on behalf of 14 medical societies, enumerating their concerns about the process.
Dr. Lawrence Kim
The American Gastroenterological Association, which attended the July 15 meeting, has a number of concerns about the administrative burden of maintenance of certification, the cost of the requirements, and implications for failing to complete a flawed process.
Dr. Lawrence S. Kim, AGAF, who’s in private practice in Denver, attended the meeting on behalf of the AGA. He noted that "gastroenterologists feel increasingly threatened by recent changes to the ABIM recertification process. We are all struggling to adapt to a brave new world of narrowing networks and ever-increasing public scrutiny. In this milieu, loss of board certification represents a true calamity to the professional lives of our physicians and in many cases, presents a truly existential threat to their livelihoods."
Recently, the AGA Governing Board discussed why the ABIM is in charge of saying what the requirements are for keeping certification in gastroenterology.
"It’s time to take charge of our profession and be proactive, setting the criteria for recertification in our specialty. To that end, AGA has joined with other societies to advocate for changes to the system. We have visited the ABIM to share concerns and push for changes to help GIs meet the requirements," said Dr. Suzanne Rose, AGA Governing Board Education Councillor.
