Item-Writer Spotlight: Robert Piana, MD

ABIM is proud to spotlight members of the Item-Writing Task Forces, which are responsible for writing all of the content for assessments in each discipline of internal medicine. Learn more about the Item-Writing Task Forces and how ABIM creates assessment questions here. If you are interested in applying to serve as an Item-Writer, click here to view current openings.

Robert Piana, MD | Interventional Cardiology Item-Writing Task Force

Dr. Piana attended Harvard University where he received his undergraduate degree before attending the University of Pennsylvania for medical school. He completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and his fellowship at Beth Israel Boston where he specialized in interventional cardiology. For the past 24 years, he has been a faculty member at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he now serves as the Director of Adult Congenital Interventional Cardiology. Most recently, he has coauthored an article titled, Association of Depression and Cognitive Dysfunction With Patient-Centered Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. You can view this recent publication here.

Dr. Piana has been on the Item-Writing Task Force for four years. When asked about his favorite part of being on the Task Force, Dr. Piana noted that he enjoys learning from colleagues and the camaraderie. His advice to new Item-Writers is to “keep an ongoing list of clinical scenarios that would serve as good exam questions.”

In his free time, Dr. Piana enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, and traveling.