Chicago, IL, June 13, 2022: The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) is pleased to announce that at its recently completed meetings, the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) formally approved the ABPM’s request for separate designations for each of the three preventive medicine specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, and Public Health & General Preventive Medicine. The ACGME Board of Directors provided final approval of the separate designation after a period of public review and comment.

While these new designations recognize the inherent differences in the ABPM’s individual specialties, they will not result in a change in the structure or responsibilities of the ACGME’s Preventive Medicine Review Committee, which shall retain responsibility for the supervision and review of the entire complement of ACGME-accredited Preventive Medicine residency programs.

As a result of this update, the specialties will be listed separately on the ACGME’s website. ABPM will work with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to update its Residency Explorer tool and its Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), and with the American Medical Association (AMA) to update its Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA), so that all of these online services will list Aerospace Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, and Public Health & General Preventive Medicine separately, thereby greatly increasing awareness of each of ABPM’s specialties among medical school students and physicians searching for career paths in preventive medicine.

“We have been so thankful to have the partnership of ACGME and our specialty societies who worked with us to accomplish this goal,” said ABPM Board Chair, Wendy E. Braund, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACPM. “While the separate designation of the three specialties will not make any significant impact on residency program requirements, it is a big step towards increasing the visibility of preventive medicine specialties, and the attractive career pathways they offer, among students, residents, and practicing physicians.”

Since all three specialties will remain under a common Review Committee, residency programs will not see any major changes to their program requirements.

The ABPM is an ABMS Member Board. Founded in 1948, ABPM works with the ABMS in the development of standards for the ongoing assessment and certification of over 12,000 physicians certified by the ABPM in the specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, and Public Health & General Preventive Medicine; and in the subspecialties of Addiction Medicine, Clinical Informatics, Medical Toxicology, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.

Chicago, IL, March 2, 2022: The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) announced today that the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) approved its request for a 3-year extension of the practice pathway for Clinical Informatics. This extension which recognizes the negative impact the COVID pandemic has had on physicians’ ability to meet eligibility requirements, will allow physicians with substantial experience in the practice of Clinical Informatics, but who have not completed an ACGME-accredited fellowship in Clinical Informatics, to apply for the Clinical Informatics certification exam for an additional three years, through the 2025 Exam Cycle.

“We are very excited to extend the opportunity for experienced physician informaticians to achieve board certification and we are grateful to ABMS for granting our request for this extension based on the difficulties brought about by the COVID pandemic,” said ABPM Chair, Wendy E. Braund, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACPM. “The extension of the practice pathway will not only allow the number of board-certified clinical informaticians to increase, but also will allow more time for Clinical Informatics ACGME-accredited fellowships to grow – ensuring the sustainability of this Subspecialty by 2025 and beyond.”

The ABPM’s application cycle opens in the spring of each year, with the final deadline to submit applications in mid-summer. The ABPM administers the certification exams once per year, in the fall. For updated deadlines and exam dates, please refer to the ABPM website: www.theabpm.org.

The ABPM is a Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Founded in 1948, ABPM works with the ABMS in the development of standards for the ongoing assessment and certification of over 12,000 physicians certified by the ABPM in the specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine; and in the subspecialties of Addiction Medicine, Clinical Informatics, Medical Toxicology, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.

Chicago, IL, February 10, 2022: The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) announced today that it is reaffirming its Policy of Accommodation for Residents and Fellows affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. This policy was originally enacted by the ABPM in April of 2020.

In 2020, the ABPM cited its support of ACGME’s Guidance to Residency Programs in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and made accommodations for early graduations and truncated residency and/or fellowship training for physicians who would otherwise qualify to sit for the 2020 ABPM Initial Certification Exams.

The letters linked below specify the accommodations ABPM will make for affected residents and fellows:

• ABPM’s letter to Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine residency directors
• ABPM’s letter to Addiction Medicine, Clinical Informatics, Medical Toxicology, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine fellowship directors

The Board is now extending the 2020 policy in response to the prolonged effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of several variants since 2020, and the continued potential disruption to the availability of residency and fellowship rotations that physicians may continue to face.

“The Board is reaffirming a policy that upholds the high standards of ABPM certification and recognizes the continued implications of COVID-19 for residency and fellowship training,” said Wendy E. Braund, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACPM. “Over the past two years, it has become clearer than ever that a skilled, dedicated Preventive Medicine physician workforce is critical to our nation’s health. By extending accommodations we are happy to reassure otherwise qualified physicians that they can meet the requirements for board certification.”

Program directors, residents, and fellows who have questions about the updated policies may contact ABPM directly at [email protected].

The ABPM is an ABMS Member Board. Founded in 1948, ABPM works with the ABMS in the development of standards for the ongoing assessment and certification of over 12,000 physicians certified by the ABPM in the specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine; and in the subspecialties of Addiction Medicine, Clinical Informatics, Medical Toxicology, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.

Chicago, IL, February 8, 2022: The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) announced today that the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved the ABPM’s request for separate designations for each of the three Preventive Medicine Specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. While these new designations recognize the inherent differences in the ABPM’s individual Specialties, the current design does not change the structure or responsibilities of the Preventive Medicine Review Committee which shall retain responsibility for the supervision and review of the entire complement of ACGME-accredited Preventive Medicine residency programs.

With this update, the Specialties will be listed separately on the ACGME’s website and the ABPM will work with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Medical Association (AMA). Specifically, ABPM will work with the AAMC and AMA so that the AAMC’s Residency Explorer tool and the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) along with the AMA’s Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) will list Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health & General Preventive Medicine separately, thereby greatly increasing awareness of each of ABPM’s Specialties among medical school students and physicians searching for career paths in preventive medicine.

“We are very grateful to our colleagues at ACGME and our Specialty societies, who partnered with us to accomplish this important task,” said ABPM Board Chair, Wendy E. Braund, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACPM. “Although the designation of the three separate Preventive Medicine Specialties will not affect a material change to residency program requirements, we expect it to make a great impact on physicians’ ability to find these Specialties, each of which offer an attractive career path in medicine.”

Since all three Specialties will remain under a common Review Committee, residency programs will not see any major changes to their program requirements. ACGME will post the updated program requirements on its website for a period of public review and comment, after which the program requirements will be submitted to the ACGME Board of Directors for its final review in June 2022.

The ABPM is an ABMS Member Board. Founded in 1948, ABPM works with the ABMS in the development of standards for the ongoing assessment and certification of over 12,000 physicians certified by the ABPM in the specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine; and in the subspecialties of Addiction Medicine, Clinical Informatics, Medical Toxicology, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.

Chicago, IL, November 29, 2021: The American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) announced today that, beginning in 2022, the Core Preventive Medicine examination questions will be incorporated into each of the three Specialty certification exams – Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. Previously, examinees were required to take and pass two separate exams – the Specialty certification exam and the Core Preventive Medicine exam. This change will eliminate the need to take a separate Core Preventive Medicine exam.

Exams will continue to include the breadth of both Specialty and Core Preventive Medicine content, as each of the Specialty certification exams will increase from 150 to 200 questions and the maximum time allowed to complete the exam will increase from 3.5 hours to 4.5 hours.

“The Board is excited to offer a more streamlined exam experience for our candidates next year,” said Wendy E. Braund, MD, MPH, MSEd, ABPM’s Board Chair. “Incorporating Core Preventive Medicine questions into each of the Specialty certification exams means our Specialty exam candidates will only need to schedule and sit for one exam, instead of two, making the scheduling process easier and more flexible. At the same time, ABPM will continue to administer high-quality, reliable exams that emphasize the importance that Preventive Medicine specialists adequately understand both Core and Specialty content.”

For those interested in learning more about the incorporation of Core Preventive Medicine content into the Specialty exams, the ABPM has prepared a list of FAQs that can be found at https://www.abpm-us.org/become-certified/certification-exam-faqs/core-examination-faqs/.

Physicians interested in ABPM certification will be able to apply online for eligibility to take the exam when the 2022 application cycle opens. ABPM will post updated application deadlines and exam dates on its website, www.theabpm.org, in early 2022.

The ABPM is a Member Board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Founded in 1948, ABPM works with the ABMS in the development of standards for the ongoing assessment and certification of over 12,000 physicians certified by the ABPM in the specialties of Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine; and in the subspecialties of Addiction Medicine, Clinical Informatics, Medical Toxicology, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine.