ABIM Announces New Governance Structure and Board and Council Leadership

PHILADELPHIA, July 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) today announced a new governance structure and named new leadership and members of its Board of Directors, Council and Subspecialty Boards.

Much has changed in public expectations of physicians, medical practice, health care delivery, medical education and the science of performance in the past few decades. ABIM has evolved and deployed many new products during this period, but the ABIM governance structure has remained unchanged. To better achieve our mission of certifying doctors with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for excellent patient care, the ABIM governance structure is changing to include a Board of Directors and an ABIM Council in July, 2013.

The ABIM Board of Directors will oversee the overall strategic direction of the organization and support efforts to make Maintenance of Certification and the certification credential relevant and valuable to the broader health care community and to all the internists who participate in it. The newly formed ABIM Council will guide the policies and procedures for Certification and Maintenance of Certification in all of the disciplines of internal medicine. ABIM Subspecialty Boards will develop the standards for the 19 specialties of internal medicine.

"Our new structure will leverage the unique skills of a diverse set of physician leaders and will allow the American Board of Internal Medicine to be forward thinking and at the same time, build a Certification and Maintenance of Certification program that is relevant to our diplomates and meaningful to patients," said Dr. Richard J. Baron, President and CEO of ABIM.

The ABIM Board of Directors, Council and Subspecialty Boards are composed of physicians who are board certified in internal medicine or one of its subspecialties and who are actively participating in ABIM's Maintenance of Certification program.  

ABIM Board of Directors (complete bios).

• Chair of the Board, David H. Johnson, MD, the Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.  The Chair serves a two year term.
• Chair-Elect, Clarence H. Braddock III, MD, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine where he holds several positions, including Associate Dean for Medical Education, Associate Chief in General Internal Medicine, Associate Chair for Organizational Improvement in Medicine and Director of Clinical Ethics at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford, California.
• Secretary, Patricia M. Conolly, MD, Associate Executive Director of The Permanente Medical Group, Oakland, California.
• Treasurer, Stuart L. Linas, MD, the Rocky Mountain Professor of Renal Research at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado.
• William J. Bremner, MD, the Robert G. Petersdorf Endowed Chair in Medicine and Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Spokane, Washington. 
• David L. Coleman, MD, the John Wade Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, the Harold H. Hines Jr. Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, and Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, New Haven, Connecticut.
• Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, MD, the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Global Health, University of Chicago, Illinois.
• Richard P. Shannon, MD, the Frank Wister Thomas Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Christine A. Sinsky, MD, General Internist, Medical Associates Clinic and Health Plans, Dubuque, Iowa.
• Joan M. Von Feldt, MD, Associate Chief of Staff, Professor of Medicine, Philadelphia Veterans Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ABIM Council

The newly formed ABIM Council ensures the quality, relevance and effectiveness of ABIM's programs for Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) across all the specialties of internal medicine. Following the strategic direction of the ABIM Board, the Council establishes and pursues the continuous improvement of program standards, and develops policies and procedures governing the requirements for initial Certification and MOC across all disciplines. 

Council Appointments (complete bios)

• Chair, Lee R. Berkowitz, MD, Eunice Bernhard Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair of Education in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Shalender Bhasin, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, Research Program in Men's Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
• David H. Ellison, MD, Professor of Medicine, Head, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
• Marianne M. Green, MD, Associate Dean, Medical Education Competency, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
• Sharon A. Levine, MD, Professor of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
• William C. Little, MD, Professor, Chair, Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi.
• Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, Professor, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington Harborview Medical Center, Medical Director, Seattle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center, Seattle, Washington.
• Paul Martin, MD, Chief, Division of Hepatology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
• Naomi P. O'Grady, MD, Senior Staff Physician, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
• Richard M. Stone, MD, Director, Adult Leukemia Program, Harvard Medical School, Professor of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Joan M. Von Feldt, MD, Associate Chief of Staff, Professor of Medicine, Philadelphia Veterans Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Jeffrey G. Wiese, MD, Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Michael E. Williams, MD, Byrd S. Leavell Professor of Medicine, Chief, Hematologic Malignancies Section, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Keith Randall Young, Jr., MD, Chair, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ABIM Subspecialty Boards and Test Committees – New Appointments

ABIM's subspecialty boards and test committees are composed of experts in both academic medicine and practice, all of whom must be ABIM certified in their particular subspecialty. Members of these boards apply their individual and collective knowledge toward the development of the policies, standards and requirements for Certification and Maintenance of Certification in their subspecialty, with special focus on developing the cognitive exam that physicians must take to certify or maintain their certification in that field. See a complete list of ABIM subspecialty board and test committee members.

New committee members are listed below:

Adult Congenital Heart Disease

• Jamil A. Aboulhosn, MD, Director, Ahmanson, UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center and Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
• Naser M. Ammash, MD, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Medical School, Consultant, Mayo Clinic and Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
• Curtis Daniels, MD, Associate Professor, Clinical Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
• Michael N. Singh, MD, Instructor, Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Instructor, Cardiology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Karen K. Stout, MD, Attending Physician, Cardiology, University of Washington Medical Center, and Harborview Medical Center and Attending Physician, Cardiology, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington.

Cardiovascular Disease

• Christopher P. Appleton, MD, Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic Arizona, and Consultant, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Medical School, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology

• Michael R. Gold, MD, the Michael E. Assey Chair, Medical University of South Carolina and Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

Endocrinology

• Janet E. Hall, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Associate Physician, Medical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
• William F. Young, Jr., MD, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Tyson Family Endocrinology Clinical Professor, Chair, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, & Nutrition, and Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

Gastroenterology

• Kenneth R. McQuaid, MD, Interim Chief, Medical Service and Chief, Gastroenterology Section, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of California San Francisco.
• James M. Scheiman, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, Director of Endoscopic Research, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Hospice & Palliative Care
• Martha L. Twaddle, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter, Glenview, Illinois.  

Infectious Disease

• David R. Andes, MD, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Director and Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. 

Interventional Cardiology

• Gregory J. Dehmer, MD, Professor of Medicine, Texas A&M School of Medicine, Bryan, Texas.
• Robert D. Safian, MD, Director, Fellowship Training Program, Interventional Cardiology, Beaumont Health System and Director, Center for Innovation and Research in Cardiovascular Diseases, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, Michigan.

Internal Medicine

• Teresa M. Cheng, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Staff Physician, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Heather L. Heiman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, and Staff Physician, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Faculty Foundation, Chicago, Illinois.

Nephrology

• James E. Bourdeau, MD, St. Francis Hospital – South, St. John Medical Center, Hillcrest Medical Center, and Kindred Hospital, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• Bernard G. Jaar, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Department of Medicine – Division of Nephrology, Baltimore, Maryland.

Oncology

• Wells A. Messersmith, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Oncology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.
• Pamela N. Munster, MD, Professor in Residence, University of California and Attending Physician, Outpatient Breast Clinic, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, California.

Pulmonary Disease

• David Hsiang-Shan Au, MD, Professor, University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Seattle VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington.
• Francis X. McCormack, MD, Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Cincinnati and Director, University of Cincinnati Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rheumatology

• Kenneth S. O'Rourke, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and Program Director, Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Transplant Hepatology

• Hugo E. Vargas, MD, Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona and Chair, Division of Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona.

About ABIM
For 75 years, certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 19 subspecialties and has meant that internists have demonstrated – to their peers and to the public – that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care. ABIM is not a membership society, but a non-profit, independent evaluation organization. Our accountability is both to the profession of medicine and to the public. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. For additional updates, follow ABIM on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE American Board of Internal Medicine