Demystifying the Orthopaedic Certification Process

Abstract

In the United States, a physician earns certification in a medical specialty by meeting the qualifications predetermined by the appropriate specialty board. The American Board of Medical Specialties and one of its twenty-four specialty boards—the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS)—offer certification as a voluntary process for individuals who have completed their training in a residency program accredited by the Residency Review Committee for Orthopaedic Surgery. The mission of the ABOS is to establish educational standards for orthopaedic residents and to evaluate the initial and continuing qualifications and competence of orthopaedic surgeons. The Board “defines minimum educational requirements in the specialty, stimulates graduate medical education and continuing medical education, and aids in the evaluation of educational facilities and programs.”1 The ABOS is one of three sponsoring organizations represented on the Residency Review Committee for Orthopaedic Surgery; the other two organizations are the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. An orthopaedic resident also serves on the committee. The Residency Review Committee functions autonomously under the direction of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). According to the ABOS, the goal of orthopaedic residency education is to prepare a resident to be a competent and ethical practitioner of orthopaedic surgery1. During their orthopaedic residency, applicants for certification by the ABOS must have received, and successfully completed, the following preparation1: A. Education in the entire field of orthopaedic surgery, including inpatient and outpatient diagnosis and care as well as operative and nonoperative management and rehabilitation. B. The opportunity to develop, through experience, the necessary cognitive, technical, interpersonal, teaching, and research skills. C. The opportunity to create new knowledge and to become skilled in the critical evaluation of information. D. Education in the recognition and management of basic …