ABIM Announces Members of New Geriatric Medicine Board

Philadelphia, PA, February 25, 2016 – The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) today announced the formation of a new specialty board devoted to Geriatrics. The new board will join the 11 other ABIM specialty boards. ABIM also announced the physicians and public/interprofessional members who will serve on the Geriatric Medicine Board. Bruce A. Leff, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will chair the new Geriatric Medicine Board.

ABIM's new governance model calls for the specialty boards take on the work of defining and overseeing the full scope of their discipline across the spectrum of ABIM Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) programs. Previously the only specialty-specific committees were the test-writing committees, tasked almost exclusively with creating the exam in the discipline. Each of the specialty boards includes two public members: a member of an interprofessional health care team and a member providing the patient/caregiver perspective. The other members are all physicians.

"The specialty boards have played an integral role in transforming ABIM's work and will help guide ABIM in the development of an even better MOC program," said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM. "I am confident that under Bruce's leadership, the Geriatric Medicine Board will work in the footsteps of the previously assembled Boards and continue to make MOC and Certification relevant as they drive innovation in the options we offer ABIM Board Certified geriatricians to meet MOC requirements."

The Geriatric Medicine Board works closely with the Geriatric Medicine Exam Committee, which is charged with developing the examinations and with maintaining exam blueprints that appropriately mirror the specialty's scope of knowledge and practice for both initial Certification and MOC. Both internists and family medicine physicians can pursue additional training in geriatrics, and the Geriatric Medicine Exam Committee includes experts from both parent disciplines. The Geriatric Medicine Board will oversee programs for ABIM Board Certified geriatricians.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to foster new partnerships and build upon existing relationships within the geriatric medicine community while working to improve the Certification and MOC programs," said Dr. Leff, Chair of the Geriatric Medicine Board. "I am excited to gather input from geriatricians across the country to ensure that the MOC program better reflects what they see in practice."

The new members of the Geriatric Medicine Board are:

Chair, Bruce A. Leff, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Sharon A. Brangman, MD, Distinguished Service Professor and Division Chief, Geriatrics, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York

Joyce Dubow, MUP (Master of Urban Planning), Consumer Advocate, Rockville, Maryland

Kathryn J. Eubank, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, The University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Sharon A. Levine, MD, Professor of Medicine, Interim Program Director, Geriatrics Fellowship, Program Director, Chief Immersion Training in the Care of Older Adults, Director of Medical Education Innovations, Geriatrics Section, Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

Melissa Morgan-Gouveia, MD, Faculty, Section of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Delaware

Jeffrey Schlaudecker, MD, MEd, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of Cincinnati and Program Director, The Christ Hospital/University of Cincinnati Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program; Kautz Family Foundation Endowed Chair of Geriatric Medical Education, Cincinnati, Ohio

Michael Sha, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine and Medical Director, Geriatrics Primary Care Program, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, Indiana

Jean Yudin, CRNP, Director, Truman G. Schnabel In-Home Primary Care Program, Division of Geriatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

About ABIM
For 80 years, certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 20 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.