Disaster Medicine Eligibility

Updated February 2018

In order for an applicant to be considered qualified to sit for the American Board of Disaster Medicine® (ABODM®) written examination, the applicant must:

ABPS General Requirements:

1. Be in conformity with the Code of Ethics of the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), be known in his/her community as an ethical member of the profession and be active specialist in Disaster Medicine.
2. Be a graduate of a recognized U.S., Canadian, or international allopathic or osteopathic college of medicine. International graduates must also hold a valid Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Certificate.
3. Hold a valid and unrestricted license(s) to practice medicine in the United States, U.S. territories, or Canada.

ABoDM Training and Experience:

1. Residency – All applicants must have completed residency training in a program approved by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) or the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) or have a current board certification granted on or before December 1, 2001. The ABPS accepts medical residencies approved by the RCPSC and CFPC, including approved residencies outside Canada.
2. Board Certification – All applicants must have a current, unexpired board  certification by granted by an ABPS, American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), American Osteopathic Association (AOA), or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSC) board.
3. Disaster Medicine Experience & Training – All applicants must qualify under at least one of the following (A., B., or C.):
   1. Fellowship – Applicants must document successful completion of a disaster medicine fellowship or equivalent training.
   2. Field Experience – Successful completion of seven days total deployment to one or more disaster venues with recognized disaster medicine agency. Recognized agencies include, but are not limited to, a National Disaster Medical System Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NDMS/DMAT), National Disaster Medical System Urban Search & Rescue (NDMS/US&R), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), International Red Cross/Red Crescent (ICRC), Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), United Nations (UN) and military deployments. Applicants must submit a brief summary of the nature and scope of each deployment along with documentation of their participation and length of deployment from an appropriate representative of the agency.
   3. Training & Community Engagement- Applicants must complete all the following:
      1. Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) course AND
      2. Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS) course AND
      3. Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS) course or participation in a functional or full field exercise AND
      4. a minimum of one year’s active participation on a national, state, regional, county, hospital, or healthcare agency or facility disaster committee
4. FEMA Emergency Management Institute Courses – Submit documentation of successful completion of required FEMA courses.  These courses are available for free and can be completed online.  More information can be found on the FEMA Emergency Management Institute’s website, http://training.fema.gov/is/.
   • IS-100.C – Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100
   • IS-700.B – National Incident Management System (NIMS) An Introduction
   • IS-200.C – Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response, ICS-200
   • IS-800.D – National Response Framework, An Introduction
5. Disaster Medicine CME – Submit documentation of a minimum of 50 hours of disaster medicine-related, AMA Category 1 CME earned within the last 2 years.  All hours must be clearly collated and summarized.  The board recommends using the ABPS CME Form.

Additional Application Requirements:

1. Submit three (3) letters of recommendation from Diplomates of any ABPS, ABMS, AOA, RCPSC, or CFPC Board of Certification. All letters of recommendation must be signed by the author, printed on letterhead, dated within the twelve month period just  prior to the submission of the application, and must include author contact and board certification information.
2. All U.S. physicians must perform a self-query of the National Practitioner Data Bank and submit the report. Get your self-query report at www.npdb-hipdb.hrsa.gov. All Canadian physicians must request a Testament Statement from each province in which a license is held verifying that there have been no disciplinary actions against the applicant.
3. Submit a current curriculum vitae, which includes medical school, degrees earned, and work experience, in chronological order.