As you have likely heard, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has recently introduced a number of changes to its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, but what you may not know is that its governance structure has also undergone some important changes, including the formation of new specialty boards. In the past, the specialty boards or test writing committees were charged with developing new exam questions, and due to the amount of time and effort involved in this process, they had little time to weigh in on specialty-specific issues related to certification and MOC.

PHOTO LEGEND (From Left to Right) Dr. Chan, Dr. Hess, Dr. Tanoue, Dr. Cooper, Dr. Erzurum, Mrs. Lambert, Dr. Nelson, and Dr. Siu.

One of the major criticisms of the MOC program is that certain requirements do not have options relevant to specific specialties or that on-the-ground physicians were not engaged in the process. In direct response to that criticism, ABIM established these specialty boards so they could:

• Define, refine, and set standards for certification and MOC in the discipline;

• Perform oversight/review of performance assessments in the discipline; and to

• Build partnerships with societies and other organizational stakeholders.

The secure examination will continue to be developed by a separate, dedicated group of physicians but will now be referred to as exam committees, ie, Pulmonary Disease Board Exam Committee.

As the Chair of the ABIM’s Pulmonary Disease Board, I am excited to take this opportunity to introduce the role of this newly formed specialty board, as well as introduce its members.

The ABIM Pulmonary Disease Board, along with nine other specialty boards, held their inaugural meetings this fall. Each of the specialty boards consist of practicing ABIM Board-Certified physicians, an intraprofessional team member, and a patient representative. Members of the ABIM Pulmonary Disease Board include:

Dr. Serpil C. Erzurum, Chair, Cleveland, OH

I am board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine, practice Pulmonary Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and serve as the Alfred Lerner Chair of the Department of Pathobiology in the Lerner Research Institute.

Dr. Kevin M. Chan, FCCP, Ann Arbor, MI

Dr. Chan, who is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine, is Fellowship Program Director for the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Medical Director of Lung Transplantation at the University of Michigan.

Dr. John Allen Cooper, Birmingham, AL

Dr. Cooper, who is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Disease, is Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama Medical School, and Chief of the Pulmonary Section at the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Dean R. Hess, PhD, RRT, FCCP, Boston, MA

Dr. Hess, our intra-professional member, is Assistant Director of Respiratory Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School.

Tommye Lambert, MBA, MDIV, Hoover, AL

Mrs. Lambert, our patient representative, is a leader in the caregiver community who focuses on patient-doctor communication and collaboration and was primary caregiver for 28 years to her daughter who suffered with cystic fibrosis. Mrs. Lambert earned her MDIV at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, and her Executive MBA from the University of Alabama.

Dr. Michael E. Nelson, FCCP, Shawnee Mission, KS

Dr. Nelson, who is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Sleep Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine, is a practicing physician in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and Medical Director of the Sleep Laboratory of the Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

Dr. Stanton T. Siu, Oakland, CA

Dr. Siu, who is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine, is Chief of Pulmonary Medicine and Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Medical Education for Kaiser Permanente East Bay in Northern California, and Full Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco.

Dr. Lynn T. Tanoue, FCCP, New Haven, CT

Dr. Tanoue, who is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine, is Professor of Medicine and Clinical Chief of the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, and Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. As a longtime member and current Chair of ABIM’s Pulmonary Disease Board Exam Committee, Dr. Tanoue works closely with me in planning and carrying out the work of the Pulmonary Disease Board.

I am honored to lead such a diverse group of professionals from across the spectrum of pulmonary disease and look forward to sharing updates with you as we embark on our work of ensuring the relevancy of MOC to pulmonary disease physicians across the country.

Further information about ABIM’s new governance structure may be found via the ABIM website: www.abim.org/about/governance

Meet ABIM’s Pulmonary Disease Board