Call for Comment: Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Certification Procedural Requirements
The ABIM Pulmonary Disease Board and Critical Care Medicine Board are considering changes to the procedural competencies required for board eligibility in their respective disciplines. For the past three years, the Specialty Boards have been engaged with ABIM Board Certified physicians, medical specialty societies and program directors asking for their views on what the requirements should be.
The Specialty Boards believe that assessment of competency in many procedures goes beyond the technical skill required to perform the procedure and may include a comprehensive assessment of aspects of peri-procedural patient management.
Physicians certified in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine are invited to share their feedback during the public comment period closing April 30th.
Share Comments in the Anonymous Form
The Specialty Boards anticipate finalizing the list of procedural competencies for Board Eligibility in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine by spring 2026. The new requirements would go into effect for fellows beginning their fellowship training July 1, 2027, and after.
Background
To determine the required procedures for initial certification in Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Disease, the Specialty Boards gathered information from physicians, educators and professional societies about how frequently specialists perform the currently required procedures and emerging procedural competencies in practice.
Taking into consideration the breadth of feedback received from stakeholders, the ABIM Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Boards have proposed draft requirements with an impact statement*.
*PLEASE NOTE: The Specialty Boards’ recommendation has not been finalized. All current requirements can be found on ABIM’s website.
What Happens Next
Pulmonologists and critical care medicine specialists are an integral part of the decision-making process, and are invited to participate candidly and anonymously in the open comment period until April 30th.
Share Comments in the Anonymous Form
The Specialty Boards will discuss an update on procedural requirements at a joint session in the spring. ABIM will notify program directors and fellows with the final decision. The new procedural requirements would go into effect for fellows beginning their training July 1, 2027, and after.
Opportunity to Train: An opportunity-to-train standard would consist of both a knowledge requirement of training all fellows in the indications, contraindications, risks and benefits of the procedure, and a requirement to provide the opportunity to train in the procedure to the level of competent and independent performance for those fellows who request the training. This opportunity to train must be arranged and sponsored by the fellowship program, but the training can be provided outside of the program. All fellows are not required to perform the procedure to competence to be eligible for ABIM certification, but program directors will need to attest that all fellows fulfilled the knowledge requirement and that fellows requesting the training to procedural competency were provided the opportunity to train.
