ABIM Elects Richard Stone, MD, Chair of its Subspecialty Board on Medical Oncology

(Philadelphia, PA), Richard Stone, MD, Director of the Adult Acute Leukemia Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, has been named Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Subspecialty Board on Medical Oncology. As such, he becomes the subspecialty board's representative to ABIM's Board of Directors. Dr. Stone has been a member of the Subspecialty Board on Medical Oncology since 2005. ABIM sets the standards and certifies physicians practicing in internal medicine and its subspecialties who possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to provide high quality care.

"I am both honored and delighted to Chair the Subspecialty Board on Medical Oncology," said Dr. Stone. "I look forward to helping to ensure that the highest quality of care is provided by medical oncologists, who need to command a rapidly expanding knowledge base due to the wide use of novel targeted agents."

The ABIM Board of Directors, composed of physicians who are board certified in internal medicine or one of its subspecialties, guides ABIM's overall mission and direction as it works to improve health care quality. All ABIM Directors participate in ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. MOC recognizes that what was standard treatment a decade ago may have changed and that the public needs a process to know if their physicians have kept up-to-date in their field.

ABIM's subspecialty boards 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. The exam assesses essential diagnostic reasoning skills, evaluating how well a doctor can put together the patient's story and symptoms, make the right diagnosis and provide the appropriate care. Dr. Stone is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology.

"Richard is nationally recognized for his laboratory and clinical research with leukemia and he is an ardent and tireless advocate for those suffering from this disease. From teaching to research to his patients, he is enmeshed in cancer treatment at all levels. His ability to deal with challenging problems in innovative ways will be of the utmost value to ABIM," said Christine K. Cassel, MD, ABIM's President and CEO.

A physician-scientist, Dr. Stone is nationally recognized for his laboratory and clinical research concerning blood and bone marrow malignancies including acute leukemia, myeloproliferative disorders and myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a bone marrow failure state that may convert to leukemia. Dr. Stone is Chair of the Medical Board of the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation and Vice-Chair of the Leukemia Core Committee for the national cooperative trials group Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

After earning his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Stone completed his internal medicine residency training at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and his hematology-oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber.

For media inquiries, contact Lorie Slass at 215-399-4005.

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.