I got the following Email from AAEM as did many of you I'm sure. The North Carolina Medical Board (NCMB) denied the request from the American Association of Physician Specialists (AAPS) to have their credential, ABPS/BCEM, to be recognized as equivalent to ABMS/ABEM or AOA/AOBEM and accepted as evidence of emergency medicine expertise for purposes of licensure. After dealing with similar issues in Florida, AAEM contacted every single state medical board requesting to be informed whenever EM board certification activity appears on their agenda. Upon AAEM's notification of the situation in North Carolina just three weeks before the NCMB meeting, AAEM notified NC-ACEP and national EM organizations. Howard Blumstein, AAEM Secretary-Treasurer and NC emergency physician, testified at the NCMB meeting joined by NC-ACEP representatives. Opposition letters were also sent on behalf of SAEM, ACEP, and influential EM leaders. "This is a wonderful demonstration of the benefit of having a proactive approach to problem solving, commitment to EM Board certification by ABEM and AOBEM, and inter-organizational collaboration on such important issues," states Tom Scaletta, president of AAEM. AAEM 555 East Wells Street, Suite 1100 Milwaukee, WI 53202-3823 800-884-2236 Fax: 414-276-3349 Email: [email protected] Website: www.aaem.org I'm glad that AAEM went to bat on this one. It sounds like (they make it sound like) AAEM took the point while ACEP was asleep at the wheel. Anyone closer to the situation know different? I had no idea that AAPS was trying to spread byone FL. Definitely and interesting situation that will affect the future of the specialty.
Gaining recognition by the state and being hired and insured are two different things. Personally I think the ABPS is a waste, and people are dumbfounded if they believe they can be truly EM-boarded by the ABPS. The federal government should ban the word "board certified" by any medical "specialty" society other than those that are members of ABMS and/or its affiliated boards.
I don't know; compared with the noise coming after the FL fiasco, this email sounded almost like a love fest of co-operation. Take care, Jeff
I know one of the EMRA officers from NC went to the meeting as well. I think pretty much everyone jumped on this to avoid a repeat of FL.
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