How to Become an ABIM Governance Member
Every July, ABIM welcomes practicing physicians, patients, patient advocates and other public health care professionals to Specialty Boards, Advisory Committees and Approval Committees that comprise ABIM Governance. Governance members play a critical role at ABIM: they help guide policy, provide insight into physician and patient perspectives in each discipline and ensure ABIM is providing the best way for physicians to remain current in their medical knowledge.
“ABIM aspires to be a vehicle through which the disciplines of Internal Medicine set standards for themselves,” said Furman McDonald, MD, MPH, currently Senior Vice President, Academic and Medical Affairs at ABIM, and incoming President and CEO, effective September 1. “This is only possible if physicians within the disciplines are making decisions for the discipline. The Specialty Boards and Advisory Committees are realizing this goal through their dedicated service to the profession in general and their specialties in particular.”
Specialty Boards consist of between eight and 10 members who are responsible for the broad definition of the discipline across certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Specialty Boards have oversight of the Approval Committees and are responsible for making sure certification and MOC remain relevant in each discipline. Approval Committees have an average of four members. They finalize content on assessments in their discipline created by hundreds of physicians who serve on the Item-Writing Task Force. The Approval Committees are instrumental in ensuring assessment items accurately represent what physicians should know in each specialty.
Specialty Board members serve three-year terms with an option to extend for another three years. The term cycles are staggered to ensure a mix of tenured and newer members so as to provide continuity of deliberation on important discipline-specific policy.
While the majority of Specialty Board members are physicians, each Specialty Board reserves two seats for non-physician members: an interprofessional member, such as a nurse or physician assistant, and a patient or caregiver with experience in the discipline. The physician cohort must meet additional requirements as well; early career physicians must be represented, as well as physicians from community practice, and special consideration might be given to applicants with experience in a particular part of a specialty, like transplant nephrology. All physician members must be certified by ABIM, or a cosponsoring Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties if applicable to the discipline and participating in MOC.
Prior to recruiting new members, an analysis of the needs of each Specialty Board is conducted to determine if the search needs to target a specific group. For example, if the Specialty Board lacked representation from a particular geographic area, search criteria would encourage applicants from those areas to apply. Once the search criteria is set, an announcement is published on ABIM.org, medical specialty societies are notified and emails about the openings are sent to program directors asking for referrals and to all diplomates within the specialty.
ABIM is committed to bringing the broadest possible range of perspectives to governance. When reviewing applicants, the Specialty Boards consider their current composition and the various perspectives the applicants offer. Candidates are then selected on qualifications and characteristics. The Specialty Board votes on two candidates to refer to the ABIM Council—a unique, cross-specialty advisory body—which ultimately reviews the candidates and makes the final decision.
“Six years ago, I joined the Specialty Board because I always saw ABIM as an ivory tower of people who were disconnected from the bedside. To my great surprise, that sentiment could not be any further from the truth,” said Alyson Myers, MD, who was a member of the Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Board from 2018 to 2024. “I appreciate how transparent the Specialty Board is with members as well as diplomates. I will definitely miss working with so many wonderful colleagues from across the country.”
If you’re interested in joining ABIM Governance, visit abim.org and submit an application for an opening. Applications to the Item-Writing Task Forces are accepted throughout the year; openings for the Specialty Boards and Advisory Committees are posted annually in the summer and for Approval Committees in the fall. Look for more information soon.
