Chicago, IL, March 25, 2019 – The ABMS Committee on Certification (COCERT) has approved ABPM’s plan to expand eligibility requirements for subspecialty certification in Addiction Medicine. The new requirements broaden the path to certification to include physicians certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM) and who formerly were also certified by at least one ABMS Member Board but who no longer hold an active primary ABMS board certification.

To be eligible for the expanded pathway, physicians must be: (i) currently certified by ABAM; (ii) current with ABAM’s Transitional Maintenance of Certification program; and (iii) have previously possessed underlying primary certification from at least one ABMS Member Board. This expanded pathway, however, is not open to physicians who never obtained primary ABMS Member Board certification or who lost primary ABMS Member Board certification as the result of disciplinary action, or who may have surrendered a medical license in lieu of or otherwise to avoid the possibility of disciplinary action being taken against the license. This expanded pathway is approved for a period beginning on January 1, 2019 and will end at the conclusion of the 2021 exam cycle on December 31, 2021.

In announcing COCERT’s approval, Marie “Tonette” Krousel-Wood, MD, MSPH said, “The expansion of the ABAM pathway was the result of a collaboration between the ABPM and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, that enabled the ABPM to structure a proposal to COCERT that was limited in scope and yet responsive to its various stakeholders.  The ABPM is also very grateful to COCERT for its consideration and approval as the ABPM strongly believes that expanding the ABAM pathway will assist in growing the addiction medicine workforce at a time when the treatment of opioid addiction is a national public health crisis and there is a significant shortage of qualified addiction specialists.  The ABPM views the expansion of the ABAM pathway as an important step toward assisting those who are on the front lines, fighting the opioid addiction crisis facing the United States.”

Physicians who meet the eligibility requirements, through the expanded pathway, the practice pathway, or the fellowship pathway, can apply on the ABPM website, www.theabpm.org. The application period is open now through July 1 for the 2019 exam cycle.

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.