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Erin Bonura, MD, Chair, ABIM Infectious Disease Board

The Infectious Disease Board, which meets twice a year and is responsible for oversight of ABIM policy and assessment in the specialty, held its spring meeting on March 25, 2025. Representatives from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) joined for a portion of the meeting*.

The following is a summary of the spring meeting. Visit the ABIM Blog for reports of prior meetings. To share your feedback with the Infectious Disease Board on this report or other issues that are important to you, please complete this brief survey.

ABIM and the Infectious Disease Board gratefully acknowledge the service of Wendy Armstrong, MD, and Jesse Milan, Jr., JD, whose terms on the Specialty Board end June 30, 2025.

Contents:

ABIM Leadership Update*

Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABIM and the ABIM Foundation, joined the Specialty Board to discuss progress on key initiatives and ongoing areas of focus for ABIM, including:

  • Exploring the alignment of Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirement due dates with the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®) cycle to help make the MOC program more reliably predictable.
  • Enhancements made to the LKA in response to feedback from physicians who identified areas for improvement, which are intended to keep the program relevant and effective.
  • Expanding ABIM’s engagement with stakeholder communities such as early career physicians, specialty societies and patient-focused organizations.
  • Upgrades to the ABIM website and Physician Portal for 2025 designed to make it easier for both physicians and the public to find information.

The group discussed some of Dr. McDonald’s updates in greater detail. Dr. McDonald explained further about how ABIM is investing in systems that will address challenges and opportunities arising from emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and their impact on assessment and training pathways. Though a timeline has not been established, ABIM is already implementing new technologies in assessment development and exploring implementation of others in the near future.

Other updates covered the possibility of developing a version of the Infectious Disease LKA focused in an as yet unidentified subspecialty area. Dr. McDonald noted other updates, including that the Infectious Disease Board has endorsed seeking practice data to determine whether a focused assessment in infectious disease is feasible, and the ABIM Council’s recent approval of a pilot special consideration pathway for “exceptionally qualified” international medical graduates (IMGs) to attain Board Eligibility status. This is now being reviewed by the American Board of Medical Specialties, which oversees ABIM.

Finally, the group touched on concerns over the potential impact of executive orders on infectious disease data, resources and public health. Dr. McDonald noted that ABIM has a role in upholding science-based medicine and has had conversations with many organizations about how best to do that in the current context.

Specialty Board Oversight of Assessment*

Each spring, the ABIM Specialty Boards review data related to certification and assessment trends in their disciplines to help guide their decisions on assessments. At this meeting, the Infectious Disease Board received statistics on the current state of active certification in infectious disease, assessment enrollment, demographics and pass rates, and data from post-assessment surveys. (Some data, such as exam pass rates and resident and fellow workforce trends, are publicly available on ABIM’s website.) Of note, 13,149 physicians have been certified in infectious disease since it was first offered in 1972, with 10,119 certifications still currently valid. A small number of infectious disease physicians are dual-certified, meaning they maintain an additional certification—the largest number (208) in critical care medicine. In 2024, 75% of infectious disease physicians who chose an assessment opted for the LKA over the traditional, 10-year MOC exam.

Some members of the Specialty Board were interested in the LKA experience, participant survey results—particularly responses about fairness—and how LKA performance data might reflect on clinical outcomes. Erin Bonura, MD, Chair of the Infectious Disease Board, suggested that publishing performance characteristics and rationale might foster physicians’ understanding of assessments. ABIM’s website features expansive sections on research related to assessment and clinical outcomes.

Initial Certification and Training Data in Infectious Disease*

The Infectious Disease Board also reviewed new data from the National Resident Matching Program, Board Eligibility data, outcomes for candidates requiring retraining, faculty pathway pass rates and approved Advancing Innovation in Residency Education programs in infectious disease.

Discussion centered on board certification pathways for IMGs amid current questions and concerns around immigration and travel restrictions and how changes may affect the workforce in infectious disease. IDSA representatives noted that program directors are carefully monitoring how visa constraints are impacting fellows who are international physicians and that additional data on these impacts would be shared later this year.

Diplomate Professional Profile*

The Diplomate Professional Profile is a questionnaire built into the ABIM Physician Portal and required of all ABIM Board Certified physicians every five years. The questionnaire gathers information about clinical work and practice patterns, and ABIM uses the information to help update exam blueprints, develop policies for initial certification and MOC, and ensure adequately diverse representation of the profession in research. To date, 44% of physicians have completed the Diplomate Professional Profile with a higher completion rate of 46% among infectious disease physicians. Siddharta G. Reddy, MPH, Senior Research Associate for ABIM, reviewed aggregate data gathered so far related to infectious disease physicians, including practice setting, practice size and physician ownership of practices.

The Specialty Board expressed support for the Profile and the valuable insights it offers. They discussed an interest in its ability to collect data specific to practice areas like HIV and geographic areas—like practice ZIP codes—to better understand workforce needs and patterns.

Community Practice in ABIM Governance*

Erica N. Johnson, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs, led a discussion with the Infectious Disease Board on community practice in the specialty to create a more inclusive understanding of its role and scope. She also sought input on overlapping aspects of community practice across the disciplines of internal medicine to inform ABIM’s recruitment efforts for broad physician representation in governance roles.

Since 2013, ABIM Specialty Boards have been required to include at least one physician member primarily engaged in community practice, defined broadly in applications as “clinical practice in a non-university, community setting.” A workgroup convened in 2020 found that the existing practice categories candidates could choose were inadequate to the real scope of community practice and proposed updates drawn from the American Medical Association and the Diplomate Professional Profile.

Several members of the Infectious Disease Board noted that allowing applicants to select multiple categories and provide written details helps reflect the diversity of practice in the field. Dr. Johnson spoke about the ability of the Specialty Board to request information related to the degree of affiliation applicants have with academic institutions to ensure that any candidates chosen to join contribute to the composition of community practice the Specialty Board is seeking. Some suggested emphasizing the role of public health and integrating questions about available resources, as many infectious disease physicians work with limited support.

Updates from Specialty Societies*

Rachel Shnekendorf, Senior Director of Education for IDSA, informed the Specialty Board of IDSA’s new course offered to members at no cost through IDSA Academy, offering advocacy education for all career stages and guidelines for both state and federal advocacy. IDSA has also been hosting member forums to maintain public access to evidence-based guidelines no longer available through government institutions. In addition, IDSA is surveying society members with the goal of assessing IDSA Academy educational offerings and identifying areas for improvement to continue helping infectious disease professionals address knowledge gaps in the discipline.

Jessica Johnson, Director, Education and Meetings for SHEA, shared that SHEA is also focusing on advocacy with published biweekly policy updates, virtual “Hill days” with a record number of advocates participating and maintaining funding for programs. SHEA is developing an infectious disease fellows healthcare epidemiology curriculum that will be published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology within the next few months. The Education Committee is currently working on a certificate course to follow the launch of this curriculum. At the time of the meeting, SHEA was also planning to release new guidelines on sterilization and high level disinfection (since published), infection prevention and nursing homes, conditions of initiation of antibiotics in nursing homes, hospital onset bacteremia and viral respiratory infection.

The Infectious Disease Board and society representatives also discussed opportunities for collaboration, such as sharing survey results and workforce data between organizations.

Updates from the Infectious Disease Approval Committees*

Anthony K. Leung, DO, FACP, FIDSA, FASCP, Chair of the Infectious Disease LKA Approval Committee, updated the Infectious Disease Board on the composition and recent meetings of the two Approval Committees as well as the Infectious Disease Item-Writing Task Force.

Some of the group raised questions about the Item-Writing Task Force in regard to retention, demographics and recruitment outreach. Staff explained that the initial term for new Item-Writers is two years, and many renew for a second term. ABIM regularly notifies physicians with an active certification in the discipline of opportunities to apply to and join the task force and works with societies to reach their members as well. A few Specialty Board members made suggestions for other areas to recruit Item-Writers from and emphasized the need for flexibility in the time commitment and incentives to attract new Item-Writers. ABIM currently offers 20 MOC points per year to active Item-Writers.

Visit the ABIM website to learn about joining Item-Writing Task Force.

Leading Issues in Infectious Disease*

Dr. Bonura invited the Specialty Board to discuss issues facing infectious disease physicians in their communities. Members pointed to challenges in access to care and medication in states that rely heavily on federal funding, health program funding cuts that affect HIV prevention and treatment, and managing fear and uncertainty in patients, particularly those in rural and underserved communities. Dr. Bonura noted the importance of maintaining practice integrity and protecting health equity.

Innovations in Assessment*

ABIM’s Research and Innovations Department has been leading a program of research on improving assessments through three main areas: supporting assessment staff efficiency, facilitating the item development process and enhancing the assessment experience for physicians. The Infectious Disease Board received an overview of the team’s current projects.

Members of the Specialty Board expressed interest in specific projects and overall support for innovations that facilitate inclusive assessment design. One project is testing how large language models might be used to automate time-consuming tasks, with the goal of making the process easier and more efficient for the item writers and Approval Committee members reviewing items and blueprints. Another is how best to comprehensively track statuses and feedback on item drafts to Item-Writers, giving them more detailed information about their item writing assignments to improve the item-writing process.

Focused Versions of the Assessment in Infectious Disease*

In spring 2024, the Infectious Disease Board agreed that ABIM should begin exploring the possibility of developing a version of the Infectious Disease LKA for specialists whose practice focuses on specific clinical issues. After similar explorations in gastroenterology, hematology and medical oncology, ABIM announced the development of several new focused LKAs planned for launch in those areas in 2026. Richard G. Battaglia, MD, FACP, Chief Medical Officer, reviewed the current status of exploration, which involves surveys and other data review to identify areas of common practice patterns for populations of physicians large enough to support a focused assessment. Prior conversations with the Specialty Board highlighted HIV as a possible area for a focused assessment; Dr. Battaglia noted that the state of practice in the field and the data would ultimately guide the direction for the Infectious Disease Board to consider and emphasized that ABIM is open to what emerging data will demonstrate to be leading areas.

Annual Diplomate Report*

ABIM is looking into the potential for publishing annual reports of data that will highlight broad statistics across each discipline of internal medicine, both for a given year and historic trends over time. This would include the current number of physicians certified in each discipline and its geographic distribution, participation rates in MOC, demographic characteristics and assessment performance. While some of these data have been made available on request for research purposes, ABIM has never published a consolidated annual report.

Some suggestions from members of the Infectious Disease Board were to try to include data reflecting historically Black medical schools and addressing the inequitable distribution of infectious disease physicians across the country. Ms. Shnekendorf noted that physician distribution is a top concern for IDSA, which aims to address it partially through its compensation initiative and telehealth data. The group discussed how sharing data of this kind between organizations is a step toward a solution.

Supporting Research and Important Issues in Infectious Disease*

Dr. Johnson led the Infectious Disease Board in a discussion about opportunities for ABIM Governance members to support important issues and research that demonstrates the value of board certification. Dr. Johnson asked the Specialty Board to identify current or emerging issues that affect health care in infectious disease, and to consider opportunities for the Specialty Board to address these issues within the appropriate framework of its oversight of the discipline.

Dr. Bonura expressed how ABIM and the Specialty Boards may be in a position to support other organizations’ advocacy work by publishing data and that infectious disease as a discipline has been especially affected by evolutions in federal policy, although other disciplines are beginning to feel affects as well. Dr. Johnson noted that the ABIM Council considers issues that affect multiple disciplines and how to address them in public forums, while the Specialty Boards can individually choose to address issues specific to their disciplines.

Society guests departed at this point in the meeting.

Recommending Candidates for the Specialty Board to ABIM Council

Each year, ABIM initiates the process of recruiting candidates for open seats on the Specialty Boards; each member serves a three-year term with the option for one renewal, and positions open on a rolling basis. ABIM posts all openings on its website and shares them with diplomates and other stakeholder groups. The Specialty Board pays close attention to its own present and future composition, namely how practice setting and region, career stage, educational background (U.S., international) and race and ethnicity are represented among its members. The ABIM Council makes final selections based on the Specialty Board’s top (one or two) recommendations for each open seat.

In June, ABIM issued notice about an opening on the Infectious Disease Board for a public member with patient or caregiver experience in infectious disease for a term beginning July 1, 2025. At the spring meeting, the group discussed the candidates they had interviewed and voted on one to recommend to the Council. ABIM will announce the final appointee later this year.

Candidates for the Infectious Disease Approval Committees

ABIM Specialty Boards are responsible for selecting members and chairs of the Approval Committees annually and as needed. At the spring meeting, the Infectious Disease Board reviewed candidate materials for four openings and voted to approve the following appointments:

  • Paschalis Vergidis, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, to the Infectious Disease Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
  • Brian Blackburn, MD, of Stanford Medicine, to the Infectious Disease Traditional, 10-Year MOC Exam Approval Committee
  • Obinna Nnedu, MD, of Ochsner Health, to the Infectious Disease LKA Approval Committee
  • Cecilia J. Yoon, MD, of New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, to the Infectious Disease LKA Approval Committee

Visit ABIM’s website for a full list of current openings.
Approval Committee openings are usually posted in the fall.

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*Indicates that society representatives and other guests were present for discussion of this agenda topic.