Abstract
Specialty board certification, though voluntary, has become an indispensable designation for many osteopathic physicians. The authors report rates of osteopathic specialty board certification and recertification. On the recommendation of the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists—and as a result of recent action by the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees—a new osteopathic continuous certification model will be used by all 18 member boards. This model firmly establishes osteopathic specialty board certification as an ongoing process that helps to ensure patient health and safety by measuring and monitoring physician competence. In addition, time limits on board eligibility have been established for certification candidates. As the healthcare environment continues to evolve, the American Osteopathic Association, the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists, and the 18 osteopathic specialty boards continue to adapt to meet the professional needs of osteopathic physicians.
The Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (BOS) (previously known as the Advisory Board of Osteopathic Specialists) was established in 1939 by the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees (AOA BOT) to assess the skills of osteopathic physicians (DOs) in response to the growth of medical specialization.
1 The BOS is the authoritative body that develops, reviews, and enforces all policies and requirements for osteopathic certification as approved by the AOA. The Bureau views the certification process as an assessment tool, a method of enhancing healthcare quality, and a means of protecting the public.
The AOA has 18 approved specialty certifying boards, each of which elects one representative to the BOS. The American Osteopathic Board of Radiology, the first approved certifying board, was established in 1939. Thereafter, additional certifying osteopathic specialty boards were created in response to the evolving needs of the public and the osteopathic medical profession (Appendix).
Since 1939, the Bureau has issued a total of 31,562 general, special, and added qualification certifications.
As of December 31, 2008, a total of 21,472 DOs held AOA certification, representing a combined total of 24,662 active certificates.
In 2008, a total of 986 certificates were awarded in primary specialty and subspecialty areas (
Table 1). In addition, 43 certificates of added qualifications were granted last year (
Table 2). Finally, a total of 731 recertifications (ie, general certifications and certificates of added qualifications) were issued during that time by the profession's 18 osteopathic specialty boards (
Table 3).
As a next step in the evolution of the model of osteopathic specialty board certification,
4 the BOS updated the osteopathic specialty board eligibility requirement. Previously, guidelines allowed certification candidates to pursue this credential indefinitely.
This policy, among others, has been modified as a result of “the quality movement” that has emerged in the past decade.
4
In the past year, based largely on the initiative of several member boards—and in their ongoing efforts to protect patients—the BOS took steps to establish time limits on board eligibility.
Last February, the BOT approved Resolution B28 (M/2008), Amendment to Board Eligibility Requirement for AOA Board Certification (
https://www.do-online.org/pdf/cal_midyr08res28.pdf). This new policy limits to 6 years the amount of time a physician is considered eligible for osteopathic board certification.
Candidates who do not complete the certification process within that amount of time have the option to petition their certifying board for one-time reentry into the certification process, however. If the board grants the physician reentry in the certification process, the candidate would then start at the beginning of the process with the next available examination administration.
Certification candidates are allowed a total of two attempts to pass each step of the examination process. If the candidate fails during any step of the examination process, he or she may then again petition the specialty board for reentry. However, with this reentry, the board will establish criteria that must be met before granting permission for the candidate to reenter the process. All such criteria must be submitted and approved by the BOS Standards Review Committee and the candidate must follow the same steps as outlined in the previous reentry process. If the candidate is unsuccessful in this attempt, he or she will have no further opportunity to become osteopathic specialty board certified. Individuals who wish to file an appeal may do so using the standard BOS appeals process.