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The Board of Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM) Accepts Applications from Family Medicine-Trained Physicians with EM Experience

Board of Certification in Emergency MedicineDr. Alex Beuning of the Mayo Clinic has family medicine in his blood. According to Dr. Beuning, his grandfather “was an old fashioned doctor who did it all, from delivering babies to removing a colon tumor or infected gallbladder.” With the goal of serving a small community just like his grandfather, Dr. Beuning chose family medicine for residency training after graduating from the University of Minnesota Medical School. Following residency, he accepted a full-spectrum family medicine position in Bloomer, Wisconsin – a rural city with a population of just a few thousand people. Seemingly, Dr. Beuning was on the exact career path he had originally chosen, that of being a family medicine practitioner in a rural setting.

That all changed when his rural hospital in Bloomer merged with Luther Midelfort and, subsequently, the Mayo Clinic. The greater availability of specialists to residents of Bloomer that these consolidations created was undoubtedly a welcome development. However, as Dr. Beuning explains, “emergency care for Bloomer residents could not as easily be outsourced to emergency medicine specialists.” Staffing limitations, combined with other factors such as locum tenens physicians of varying competence, negatively impacted Bloomer residents in need of high-quality emergency care. This led Dr. Beuning to embark on a slightly different career trajectory. In his view, becoming a practitioner of emergency medicine is a natural transition for any doctor with extensive training and experience in the field of family medicine. This is especially true for family doctors in rural environments, where a scarcity of emergency medicine specialists often compels family doctors and other generalists to step in and provide emergency care services. After seeking additional training, Dr. Beuning became a regional emergency department medical director, an advanced airway course director, a rural critical care course instructor, a state trauma surveyor, and the medical director of the Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant Emergency Medicine Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.

Unfortunately for Dr. Beuning, the American Board of Medical Specialists would not allow him to become board certified in emergency medicine. That is when he turned to the American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS) and its Member Board, the Board of Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM). While adhering to stringent ABPS standards, the BCEM offers a meaningful way for qualified physicians to demonstrate their proficiency at providing emergency care to patients. Those who wish to obtain board certification through the BCEM must have completed residency training in emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, pediatric medicine, or general surgery. In addition, primary care-trained physicians must have practiced emergency medicine for a minimum of 7,000 hours during a five-year period, or have completed a BCEM-approved emergency medicine graduate training program. Complete eligibility requirements can be found at www.bcemus.org.

Doctors like Alex Beuning who transitioned into emergency medicine after beginning their careers in a different specialty benefit greatly by becoming board certified through the BCEM. Along with being able to demonstrate their mastery of the specialty, BCEM-certified physicians enjoy better job opportunities, higher compensation, and greater familiarity with ever-changing emergency medicine standards. Their patients benefit as well through enhanced clinical outcomes and knowing from the outset that their physicians have completed rigorous testing in the specialty they practice.

Contact the American Board of Physician Specialists today to learn more about the many benefits of becoming board certified through the Board of Certification in Emergency Medicine. The ABPS is the certifying body for the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc.

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Medical organizations throughout North America understand that our rigorous certification standards prove that ABPS Diplomates are capable of delivering the best patient care possible.

With declining access for maternity care amid rising maternal mortality, ABPS and their Board Certification in Family Medicine Obstetrics has been essential for me and many of my colleagues in getting privileges and thereby creating local access for mothers and their children.

Ashish Anand, MD, FAASOS
John B. Waits, MD
Family Medicine Obstetrics
Board certification through the American Board of Physician Specialties has served to substantiate my interest and additional training in several fields of medicine including Internal Medicine, Disaster Medicine, and Administrative Medicine. As a result, I have been able to serve my community in clinical, disaster response, and administrative medicine roles. Through the ABPS, I have become recognized as a leader in my various fields of interest.

Spencer Price MD, MPH, MBA
Administrative Medicine
In this era, when continuous updated medical knowledge means so much to you, when quality of emergency care matters most to you ,when you need to excel in your medical career to continue providing exceptional service to your critically ill patients, please consider board certification with the Boad of Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM). Where your knowledge & expertise translates to credentialing & certification with wider approval & recognition every day at many fronts. We Welcome you to join our team for a brighter future of our emergency healthcare where dedication to profession relies not solely on clinical practice but also on sound academic certification.

Ashish Anand, MD, FAASOS
Ashraf A. Gerges, MD, FAAEP
Emergency Medicine
Board certification in Orthopedic Surgery through the American Board of Physician Specialties validated my training and surgical experience through a process that was both rigorous and respectful of real-world practice. ABPS recognizes clinical competence, not just credentials, and that sets it apart.

Ashish Anand, MD, FAASOS
Ashish Anand, MD, FAASOS
Orthopedic Surgery
The American Board of Physician Specialties is a forward- thinking organization that focuses on where Medicine is going, not just where it has been. Traditional Certification Boards like Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Dermatology are represented as are Integrative Medicine, Disaster Medicine, and Family Medicine-Obstetrics. Physicians appreciate the ability to showcase their skills and knowledge through Board Certification, and this organization allows excellent physicians the ability to bring their skills to patients. The dedication and commitment of this organization and its volunteers will ensure ongoing distinction and commitment for decades to come.

Jeffrey B. Stricker, DO, MBA, FAASD
Jeffrey B. Stricker, DO, MBA, FAASD
Dermatology
Serving as a member on the American board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM) for many years and now serving as a Member at Large of the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) has been an enriching and rewarding experience. The board’s commitment to excellence, integrity, and positive impact is truly inspiring. I am grateful to collaborate with such a dedicated and visionary group, and I am proud of the meaningful progress we continue to achieve together.

Arti Prasad, MD, FACP
Arti Prasad, MD, FACP
Integrative Medicine
There are many ways board certification advances a physician career. ABPS Board examination verifies your accuracy, precision, and reflects your mastery of your residency training verifying your expertise. ABPS Board certification demonstrates your level of expertise beyond your practice experience, primary education degrees, and training which are necessary for insurance reimbursement and practice privilege requirements. Attaining your ABPS Board Certification will clarify your purpose, secure your practice growth, and expand into leadership positions. Board certification can serve as an indication of a physician’s commitment to medicine, beyond the minimal standards and competency of training, their measurement to quality of care, and attaining an award for excellence.

Chris Kunis MD
Internal Medicine
When the American Board of Physician Specialties offered to host the American Board of Integrative Medicine, ABPS became a landmark organization working to move medicine into the twenty first century. Certifying physicians who have completed rigorous academic training in Integrative Medicine ensures that the field of Integrative Medicine will continue to develop academically, clinically, and professionally. The leadership of ABPS continues to impress me - they are diligent in constantly innovating to provide certifications for physicians who want to advance their careers and their areas of expertise. I am honored to be a part of this organization.

Ann Marie Chiasson, MD
Integrative Medicine
On October 18, 2007, President George W. Bush released Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21 (HSPD-21), calling on our nation, among other initiatives, to “collectively support and facilitate the establishment of a discipline of disaster health”. It is a great testament to the wisdom and foresight of the American Board of Physician Specialties that it immediately set to work and created, within the short span of only one year, an educational blueprint and set of certification examinations, both written and oral, for a new subspecialty of disaster medicine—and it is why I chose to be part this vital initiative and this wonderful organization. This is but one of the many innovative programs initiated by the American Board of Physician Specialties over the years, and why I am proud to support its work on behalf of our nation’s public health.

Art Cooper, MD
Disaster Medicine
Far too often, medicine is led by less than 5% of non-practicing physicians taking away and replacing the voice of the 95% of physicians practicing and placing patient safety and care first on the front lines every day. The American Board of Physician Specialties has raised the standards in physician board certification not only in the quality of their boards of certification, but in hearing and allowing for the voice of those active physicians caring directly for patients. Having been a part of the ABPS over the last 28 years has allowed me to grow as a woman leader in a field often wrought with challenges. It helped me and others raise the bar of the standards of care in my specialty, Emergency Medicine, through their Board Certification in Emergency Medicine (BCEM). ABPS also helped raise the standards of care for 21st century medicine through their certifications in other specialties, particularly in Integrative Medicine & Disaster Medicine. Having physician voices heard matters to medicine and is essential in the betterment of patient safety and care.

Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Sarah E. Gilbert, MD, FAAEP
Emergency Medicine
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