ABPS/AAPS Blog Terms of Use Agreement

The following describes the terms on which You may have access to ABPS/AAPS and its services and membership. If You have any questions about this Agreement, please contact us.

1. Membership in ABPS/AAPS Blog

Users of the ABPS/AAPS Blog (“YOU”) may participate in public conversations, in public galleries which any other member or third-party user of the website may access. To join the ABPS/AAPS Blog (the” Service or Services”) You must agree to these Terms of Use after reviewing the terms when you register as a You.

BY CONTINUING TO USE THE SERVICES AND SITES, YOU ARE INDICATING YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, ABPS/AAPS IS NOT WILLING TO PROVIDE YOU WITH ACCESS TO THE SERVICES AND SITES AND YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES.

2. Registration, Username and Password

You will provide us with accurate and complete registration information and advise us promptly of any changes. If you do not, you will be in breach of this Agreement allowing us to immediately terminate Your Membership and/or use of the Service.

When You register, You will receive a user name and password which we may assign or allow You to select. You may receive a password and account designation upon completing the Service’s registration process. We reserve the right to cancel any service Membership if we discover that a Membership account is being used by more than one person, or if a log-in/password is given to another person.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to (a) immediately notify ABPS/AAPS of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that You exit from Your account at the end of each session. ABPS/AAPS cannot, and will not, be liable for any loss or damage arising from unauthorized use of Your username and/or password. Any fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise illegal activity may be grounds for termination of Your account, at ABPS/AAPS’ sole discretion, and ABPS/AAPS may refer You to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

3. Posting of Materials and Photographs On the Website; Your Representations and Warranties

This agreement also covers any written, audio, graphic, or any other materials (“Materials”) may submit to any of the Services provided by ABPS/AAPS or any of its divisions or operating units. You are responsible for all content and materials You post on the website and any Private or Public Gallery. You may not post on the website or any Private or Public Gallery any material that (a) is obscene or contains child pornography or is harmful to minors in any way; (b) is offensive, defamatory, libelous, false or misleading, threatening,harassing, abusive or hateful; (c) violates the privacy or publicity rights of others; or (d) violates the property rights, including copyright and trademark rights, of others. You are responsible for insuring that any material You post on any Private or Public Gallery does not infringe on the property rights, including copyright, trademark, patent or trade secret rights, of any third party. You represent and warrant that any material You post on any Private or Public Gallery does not infringe on the property rights, including copyright, trademark, patent, or trade secret rights, of any third party.

You represent and warrant to ABPS/AAPS that: (a) You are the owner of any material You post on the website and any Private or Public Gallery or, if You are not the owner of such material, (i) You have the copyright owner’s express, written permission to post the material on the website and any Private or Public Gallery and (ii) the owner has expressly granted You the right to grant the license to ABPS/AAPS set forth in Section 4 below; (b) if the posted material is a photo or graphic image, any such photo is of you, or a minor that you are responsible for, or a person who has given You express permission to post the material or photo on the website and any Private or Public Gallery and has waived any and all of his/her privacy and publicity rights with respect to the photo or material; and (c) all information and materials You post or submit for posting are truthful and accurate.

ABPS/AAPS may, in its sole discretion, refuse to post any material or photo You submit on the website or any Private or Public Gallery, and edit, delete, or inactivate any such material, photo, or Public or Private Gallery for any reason, including but not limited to perceived copyright infringement or photos or Private or Public Galleries that contain questionable adult content.

4. Ownership; License Grant

ABPS/AAPS owns and operates the website, the Private and Public Galleries and the services. The website and Private and Public Galleries, including but not limited to text, images, graphics, logos, icons and audio clips (the “Content”) are the property of ABPS/AAPS . The website, Private and Public Galleries and Content are protected by U.S. and international copyright and trademark laws and treaties. Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, You may not use, copy, download, display, publish, perform, distribute, transmit, modify, make derivative works of, reverse engineer, disassemble or commercially exploit the Content without ABPS/AAPS’s express, written consent.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, ABPS/AAPS does not claim any ownership right in any materials or photos that You, any other user or any your posts on the website or any Private or Public Gallery. You hereby grant (and, if You are not the owner of the material or photo, You hereby represent and warrant that You are authorized in writing by the owner of the material or photo to grant) ABPS/AAPS a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and sublicensable right and license to use, copy, download, publicly distribute, modify and make derivative works of any materials and photos You post on the website and any Private or Public Gallery and to publicly display the material and photo and any modification or derivative work thereof.

5. Use of Website or Blog Posted Materials

You agree not to reproduce, retransmit, disseminate, sell, distribute, perform, display, publish, broadcast, circulate, create new works from, or commercially exploit the Services (including the content and information made available through the Services), in whole or in part, in any manner, without the express written consent of ABPS/AAPS, nor to use the content or information made available through the Services for any unlawful purpose. You agree to access the Services manually by request and not programmatically by macro or other automated means.

6. Control Over Posted Materials and Photographs

ABPS/AAPS does not control the material or photos posted by You, other users or members on the website or any Private or Public Gallery and does not have any obligation to monitor any material or photos posted on the website or any Private or Public Gallery. You may find other users’ or Yous’ materials or photos to be offensive, harmful, inaccurate, or deceptive. ABPS/AAPS will investigate any complaints that posted material or photos violate these Terms of Use.

7. User Responsibilities/Warranties

User warranties that: (a)That neither your submitted Materials, nor any comments or reviews You post on the Site violate any common law or statutory patent, copyright, privacy, publicity, trademark or trade secret rights of any person or entity and are not libelous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise actionable at law or equity.

(b) That you have neither intentionally nor with gross negligence submitted any Materials containing or producing any virus or other harmful code or other information that could damage or otherwise interfere with our computer systems or data and/or that of our blog members or ABPS/AAPS. (c) You agree to sign and deliver to ABPS/AAPS any additional documents that ABPS/AAPS may request to confirm ABPS/AAPS’ rights and your warranties and representations under this Agreement.

(d) You acknowledge that ABPS/AAPS is relying upon the representations, warranties and covenants you have made herein. You agree to and hereby do indemnify ABPS/AAPS, its licensees, assigns and customers against, and hold them harmless from, any loss, expense (including reasonable attorney fees and expenses), or damage occasioned by any claim, demand, suit, recovery, or settlement arising out of any breach or alleged breach of any of the representations, warranties or covenants made herein or arising out of any failure by You to fulfill any of the representations, warranties, or covenants You have made herein.

(e) All representations, warranties or covenants made herein by you shall survive termination of this Agreement.

(f) All warranties and representations made by you herein are made for the benefit of ABPS/AAPS and its sub-licensees and may be enforced separately by ABPS/AAPS and/or by any contractually designated sub-licensee of ABPS/AAPS.

8. User and You Information and Photographs

ABPS/AAPS owns any information You provide through Your use of the website and any Private or Public Gallery, including any information regarding Your use of the Internet, the website and any Private or Public Gallery. Subject to the terms of our Privacy Policy, ABPS/AAPS reserves the right to reproduce and use such information for its own marketing or other purposes. Such information will not be sold or otherwise provided to any third party without Your consent.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless ABPS/AAPS and any others involved in creating the website, any Private or Public Gallery and Content from and against any and all claims, actions, liabilities, costs and expenses arising out of (a) Your breach of any provision of this Agreement; (b) Your breach of any representation or warranty You provide herein; (c) Your posting on the website and any Private or Public Gallery of any material or photo; (d) Your use of the website, the services and any Private or Public Gallery; (e) use of any Private or Public Gallery by others; or (g) otherwise arising in any way out of Your use of the website, the services or any Private or Public Gallery. You shall cooperate fully in any defense of such claim. ABPS/AAPS reserves the right to take exclusive control over the defense of any such claim.

10. Trademark

All trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing on this website are the property of their respective owners.

11. Links to Third Party Websites

This website may include links to other Internet websites. By providing such links, ABPS/AAPS does not recommend and is not liable for any such websites or any content, information, advice, products, services or prices therefore contained on or accessible through such websites. Your access and use of any such third party websites and their content, information, advice, products or services is solely at Your own risk. You agree that ABPS/AAPS will not be liable or responsible for any such third party websites or their content, information, advice, products, services or any price, price discrepancy or price change.

12. Warranty Disclaimer

You expressly agree that Your use of the website, Content, the services and any Private or Public Gallery is at Your sole risk. THE WEBSITE, CONTENT, SERVICES AND PRIVATE AND PUBLIC GALLERIES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND ABPS/AAPS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT. ABPS/AAPS DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE WEBSITE OR ANY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC GALLERY, OR WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE OR ANY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC GALLERY WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC GALLERY WILL BE ACCURATE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. ABPS/AAPS IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, OR DELETION OF ANY PHOTO OR FILES STORED ON OR TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM THE WEBSITE.

13. Limitation of Liability

ABPS/AAPS SHALL NOT HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSSES OR DAMAGES, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, AND WHETHER ARISING IN TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY, CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING AS A RESULT OF: (A) THIS AGREEMENT; (B) YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, CONTENT, SERVICES OR ANY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC GALLERY; OR (C) UNAVAILABILITY, INACCURACY, LOSS OR DELETION OF THE WEBSITE, CONTENT, SERVICES OR ANY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC GALLERY (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE, CONTENT, SERVICES OR ANY PRIVATE OR PUBLIC GALLERY, DATA LOSS, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS), EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOTIFIED ABPS/AAPS IN ADVANCE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

14. Termination

ABPS/AAPS reserves the right to terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason whatsoever and to revoke Your Membership in ABPS/AAPS and Your access to the website, content, services and any Private or Public Gallery without prior notice to You.

15. Applicable Law and Consent to Jurisdiction

This Agreement will be governed by and in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, USA without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of Tampa, FL USA for any cause of action arising out of or relating to this Agreement.

16. Shortened Statute of Limitations

You agree to file any cause of action arising out of or relating to this Agreement and Your rights and obligations hereunder in Tampa, FL USA within one year after the cause of action arises. You agree that any action filed after this date is barred.

17. Right to Change Agreement

ABPS/AAPS reserves the right to change this Agreement at any time. ABPS/AAPS will post a notice of any change to this Agreement on the website. Your continued use of the website after any such change is made constitutes acceptance of and agreement to be bound by the terms of the Agreement as modified. Only ABPS/AAPS can modify the terms and conditions of this Agreement and/or the Credit Schedule.

18. Severability

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be illegal or unenforceable, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable.

19. Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between You and ABPS/AAPS and supersedes all proposals and other communications made between the parties, written or oral. This Agreement can only be modified as stated in Section 15 above.

Save the Date
House of Delegates & Annual Scientific Meeting
Innovation & Overcoming Challenges
June 10-15, 2022
Patient Care Is Our Priority

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

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
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
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 I think historically, advancement in medicine and patient safety and care has been driven by the diversity of people and scientific thought. That’s what I found at the ABPS and more. For over 60 years that is just who we are. I found a physician certifying body that provides a choice and voice to all physicians ensuring that patients are always placed first.

Jerry Allison, MD
Emergency Medicine
When I decided to pursue a full time role as a physician executive it was important to me to obtain additional professional training, education and work experience. Board certification through the ABPS in Administrative Medicine is validation of my efforts and a demonstration of dedication to professional development. We need more physicians to become full time health care executives, knowing there is a board certification option in Administrative Medicine encourages physicians to take the leap from full time clinical practice to healthcare organizational leadership.

Richard Paula, MD
Administrative Medicine
The American Board of Physician Specialties has provided me with the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of internal medicine through board certification. As a hospitalist, board certification is an expected credential, and hospitals recognize the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) as one of the three standard credentialling bodies for Internal Medicine. Additionally, the ABPS has helped me develop leadership skills as a Board member and Committee Chairperson. ABPS has also helped me sharpen critical thinking skills as a test question developer and reviewer. The Allopathic (MD) and Osteopathic (DO) physicians in the ABPS are lifelong learners and frequently pursue multiple board certifications. I enjoy the camaraderie of my peers in ABPS.

Loren Jay Chassels, DO
Internal Medicine