American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification Program

Abstract

A 55-year-old physician, who graduated from medical school in 1979, completed his internship and junior residency in internal medicine in 1981. He did 3 years of fellowship training in endocrinology, followed by a third year of residency in internal medicine. He then completed and passed the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) qualifying examinations in internal medicine and endocrinology; the ABIM issued to him certificates of unlimited duration, specifying that he held board certification in internal medicine and endocrinology. For the past 24 years, he has been in the practice of general internal medicine with an emphasis on endocrinology. He estimates that about half of his patients see him for endocrine problems exclusively and the remainder see him for issues regarding general internal medicine. He is on the faculty of the medical school from which he graduated, but he spends most of his time caring for patients in an outpatient setting. For 6 months of each year, he has third-year residents, training in internal medicine, shadowing him at his outpatient practice. For one 3-week block each year, he serves as an attending physician on the general medical service of the hospital where he has inpatient privileges, a minor teaching hospital of his medical school at which he trained. During this 3-week period, he has two medical students, two interns, and a senior medical resident under his direct supervision.