DOI: 10.1097/01.EEM.0000512787.47965.f2
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Issn Print: 1054-0725
Publication Date: 2017/02/01
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Excerpt
Understanding the impact of board certification is important for the specialty of emergency medicine. The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) supports efforts to better understand the specialty and the women and men who serve the acutely ill and injured. The board has been conducting a survey — the Longitudinal Study of Emergency Physicians — since 1994. (http://bit.ly/2ezG6Iw.)
EMN recently published the statement that “nearly 10 percent of EPs shun certification,” stating that these physicians “are eligible to take the board exam in emergency medicine but skipped it.” (“EM Board Certification Has Little Effect on EP's Careers,” EMN 2016;38[10]:28-29; http://bit.ly/2ezJKSN.) Although the data in this report are likely supported by the survey methodology used, we are aware of data that conflict with these results.
Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education data on emergency medicine residency graduates, combined with ABEM certification rates yield a different picture. From 2005 to 2014, program directors have reported to ABEM that there have been 14,890 graduates of EM residency programs. Of these physicians, 14,779 (99.3%) have taken the qualifying examination. Graduates from the 2015 and 2016 classes are still in the process of applying for and completing this first step in the ABEM certification process.
Michael L. Carius, MD
President, American Board of Emergency Medicine
East Lansing, MI
Editor's Note: No doubt Dr. Carius' data are correct, but EMN's findings reflected board certification among emergency physicians of all ages, not just recent graduates. Our article noted that younger EPs are more likely to be board certified, as Dr. Carius pointed out, but our survey data found that 35 percent of EPs over age 56 were not. Admittedly, our sample size was much smaller than the Longitudinal Study of Emergency Physicians, but we believe the results were nonetheless sound.
