Certification information contained in the "Is Your Doctor Certified?" section of www.abms.org is officially recognized ABMS data. Individuals listed are currently certified in the areas of specialization and sub-specialization as noted. Commercial use of such data, for example to satisfy NCQA and The Joint Commission requirements, generally requires not only verification of certification, but also the dates of certification. ABMS makes its primary source data available in online services available from licensed partners. Information from these online services is accepted by The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

When registering for the Is Your Doctor Certified online verification service, users will be asked to identify if they are accessing the service for Personal or Professional use. Select Personal if you are researching your own doctor(s) or investigating doctors whom you or a family member may be interested in visiting. Select Professional if you verify credentials or investigate doctors for business, commercial or any purpose other than those described for personal use. Please be aware that information obtained through the Is Your Doctor Certified section of this Web site is intended for personal consumer use only, and is not valid or authorized for use by professional organizations. It is not considered primary source because dates of certification are not included.

There could be many reasons why a physician does not appear following a search. It could mean that:

1. the doctor may not be certified by an ABMS Member Board
2. the physician may not have an active certification from an ABMS Member Board
3. the profile may not be available because the physician requested that their information be kept private

First, check the spelling of the doctor's name and the location criteria as these are often common reasons for information not being returned. You can also check again at a later time in the event the information has not yet been updated. In the case of newly certified physicians, the information may not be available from our database for 90 days following a congratulatory letter from the specific ABMS Member Board to the physician (diplomate.) In the meantime, you could call the ABMS Member Board that you think he or she is certified with and they may be able to help you.

Access the online search service in the Is Your Doctor Certified? section of this Web site. A registration screen will appear and ask you to enter your e-mail address and name. Once completed, you will receive an e-mail containing your password. The username (your e-mail address) and password will allow you five (5) free searches per day. To log on, simply go back to the Is Your Doctor Certified? page and enter your username and password. Once you have logged on to the site, you can search by physician name and location or location and specialty.

We receive information from our Member Boards to update our database on a regular basis. Information that is accessed through "Is Your Doctor Certified?" is updated once a week. Information available through our licensed partners for professional use is updated more frequently. In the case of newly certified physicians, the information may not be available from our database for 90 days following a congratulatory letter from the specific ABMS Member Board to the physician (diplomate.) In the meantime, you could call the ABMS Member Board that you think he or she is certified with and they may be able to help you. Click here to learn more about getting ABMS data.

You can find out this information either through a state medical board or through the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) DocInfo service which will provide you with professional information on physicians and physician assistants licensed in the United States including information on disciplinary sanctions, education, medical specialty, licensure history and locations. You can also reach FSMB by calling (817) 868-4000.

The Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists published by Elsevier under license from ABMS lists basic biographical information on physicians certified by an ABMS Member Board. This four-volume set can be found in many public and medical libraries. You may also ask your doctor's office for his or her resume.

In this instance, contact the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. They can respond to specific inquiries to confirm that a doctor is certified as a specialist and the year of certification.

Please note that neither ABMS, nor any of its Member Boards, is affiliated with BoardCertified LLC. Subscription to or payment of any fees to Boardcertified.com or BoardCertified LLC will not affect any diplomate's certification status with their Member Board or listing on an ABMS database.

Unfortunately, this is not a service provided by ABMS. We are not a doctor referral service. Some possible resources are your insurance company or the doctor referral service at your local medical center. There are a number of commercial toll-free numbers you can call. You can also go to the reference section of your public library and look at the Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists to find a particular physician. To confirm that physician's certification, go to the Is Your Doctor Certified? section. You will be asked to register for the service by typing in some basic information. This is a free service that allows you to conduct five (5) searches per day. You can also call our toll-free service at 800-ASK-ABMS (275-2267).

Unfortunately, we do not have physicians on staff who can answer your question. We recommend you consult your family physician.

To file a complaint against your doctor, you'll need to contact your state medical board.

You can find out this information either through a state medical board or through the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) DocInfo service which will provide you with professional information on physicians and physician assistants licensed in the United States including information on disciplinary sanctions, education, medical specialty, licensure history and locations.

Certification information contained through "Is Your Doctor Certified?" on abms.org is provided by ABMS as a free public serivce. You can find additional biographical information in the Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists which can be found in many medical and public libraries. Additional information can also be found through online services from our licensed partners' products. Both Primary Source Verification (PSV) and non-Primary Source (non-PSV) data are available. Reports from these products containing dates of certification are considered Primary Source and satisfy The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations' requirements. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

Though there is no formal method for praising a doctor for good care, it is a good practice to recognize your physician for the care you or your family receives. We suggest that you write to your doctor to show your appreciation and be sure to give friends and family the name of your doctor when they are looking for a good physician.

Contact ABMS to ask questions or provide comments about our Web site.

The ABMS database is updated on a daily basis as we receive information from the member boards. Please note that the ABMS Member Boards may take up to 90 days to provide updated certification information to ABMS. This may impact the availability of new certification or recertification information in our database. ABMS makes its primary source data available in online services available from licensed partners. Information from these online services is accepted by The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

Please contact ABMS for information about this service by calling (312) 436-2600 select option 5, or e-mail products@abms.org.

ABMS does not offer this service. Our data is available through online services from our licensed partners. Both Primary Source Verification (PSV) and non-Primary Source (non-PSV) data is available. Reports from these products containing dates of certification are considered Primary Source and satisfy The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations' requirements. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

ABMS makes its primary source data available in online services available from licensed partners. Information from these online services is accepted by The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

ABMS does not provide this service. ABMS makes its primary source data available in online services available from licensed partners. Information from these online services is accepted by The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

ABMS does not offer this service. Our data is available through online services from our licensed partners. Both Primary Source Verification (PSV) and non-Primary Source (non-PSV) data is available. Reports from these products containing dates of certification are considered Primary Source and satisfy The Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC and other accrediting organizations' requirements. Please contact our partners for additional information on their offerings:

Elsevier, publisher of Board Certified Docs
http://www.boardcertifieddocs.com/
800-523-1649 ext 3276
h.licensing@elsevier.com

TMP Medical Listings, publisher of CertiFACTS Online
http://www.certifacts.com
(800) 451-3017
ABMSleads@tmpdm.com

This four volume set is published yearly by Elsevier under license from ABMS. Click here for more information.

Please send your request to products@abms.org.

Please send your request to products@abms.org.

ABMS is happy to provide the information about physician certification you need for conducting adoption home studies, placements and education. For assistance, please contact ABMS for information about this service by calling (312)436-2600, or e-mail products@abms.org.

You can order a free copy of the ABMS Annual Review or any of our other publications by using our online shopping cart.

This four volume set is published yearly by Elsevier under license from ABMS. Click here for more information

Each ABMS Member Board has different requirements and it is best to contact the particular board directly. Click here for a list of contact information for each member board.

Exam dates vary by ABMS Member Board. Click here for a list of contact information for each member board.

Each ABMS Member Board has different requirements. Most doctors begin the certification process at some point during their residency training. Check with the specific ABMS Member Board for requirement details.

Each ABMS Member Board has different requirements and it is best to contact the particular board directly. Click here for a list of contact information for each member board.

Each ABMS Member Board has different requirements and it is best to contact the particular board directly. Click here for a list of contact information for each Member Board.

To find out the requirements, contact the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates at (215) 386-5900 or visit their Web site at www.ecfmg.org.

Contact the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for information on United States medical schools. To learn about residency training, contact the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

The certificate is issued by the specialty board that administered the exam and you will need to contact that board. Click here for a list of contact information for each member board.

To receive a replacment, contact the board that issued the original certificate. Click here for a list of contact information for each member board.

To request a copy of the a certificate, contact the board that issued the original certificate. Click here for a list of contact information for each member board.

If you wish to make your information private and have received an update form, there is a place to indicate your preference. If you have not received or do not have a form, contact us online.

Click here for information about changing your personal information.

Though we update our database daily, it could take anywhere between 30 and 60 days from the time information is submitted to the time the changes are incorporated into the datatase. In the case of newly certified physicians, the information may not be available from our database for 90 days following a congratulatory letter from the specific ABMS Member Board. Information that is accessed through "Is Your Doctor Certified?" on the ABMS Web site is updated once a week. Information available through our licensed partners for professional use is upated more frequently.

Information from your profile is made available through our services and products of our designated licensees. If you request that your information be kept private, it will not be made available through any of these outlets, nor licensed to third parties.

Unfortunately, we do not have this type of information. Please visit the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) Web site.

Please contact our Director of Marketing and Communications by calling (312) 436-2600.

Please contact our Director of Marketing and Communications by calling (312) 436-2600.

ABMS board certification statistics are available by going to the shopping cart. You may download a free pdf file or order a printed copy for $6.00.

Access the online search service or click on the Is Your Doctor Certified link on www.abms.org. If you are already registered, enter your email address and password, and click "Login." If you are a new user, indicate if you are accessing the service for Personal or Professional purposes and click "Register." If you are unsure, click the "Need Help Deciding" link for more information. You will be asked to provide basic information to register. Once completed, you will receive an e-mail confirming your password. Click a link inside the e-mail to activate your account. The username (your e-mail address) and password will allow you five (5) free searches per day. To log on, simply go back to the Is Your Doctor Certified page and enter your username and password. Once you have logged on to the site, you can perform searches. Please be aware that information obtained through the Is Your Doctor Certified section of this Web site is intended for personal consumer use only, and is not valid or authorized for use by professional organizations.

The search service on the ABMS Web site is a free public service offered to support the public's desire for safe, high-quality care. We use the log on and registration process to limit the number of searches a visitor can perform each day. This is done to eliminate abuse of this service by organizations that try to use it for commercial purposes.

Our site has been tested using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or Netscape Communicator 6.2.1. Our site may be compatible with other versions of these browsers as well as other browsers, however we cannot guarantee their compatibility. You also must have cookies enabled to allow access to the ABMS Web site. Follow the instructions in your browser to enable cookies.

Registered users of Is Your Doctor Certified may update their password by logging into the service and clicking "My Profile". Enter the new password in the field indicated (Password, Confirm Password) and click "Save".

Registered users of Is Your Doctor Certified may update their e-mail address by logging into the service and clicking "My Profile". Enter the new e-mail address in the field indicated (Email Address) and click "Save".

There could be many reasons why a physician does not appear following a search. It could mean that

• the doctor may not be certified by an ABMS Member Board,
• the physician may not have an active certification from an ABMS Member Board
• the profile may not be available because the physician requested that their information be kept private

First, check the spelling of the doctor's name and the location criteria as these are often common reasons for information not being returned. You can also check again at a later time in case the information was about to be updated. He or she could also be recently certified and we are awaiting information from the member board to add to our database. In the meantime, you could call the ABMS Member Board that you think he or she is certified with and they may be able to help you.

Is Your Doctor Certified is a consumer service and does not contain functionality to print pages in a "report" format, though the information may be printed using browser print commands. Professional users who require printable formatted reports for certification verification or other purposes may visit our product information pages. Please be aware that information obtained through the Is Your Doctor Certified section of this Web site is intended for personal consumer use only, and is not valid or authorized for use by professional organizations.

For more information, please send an e-mail to products@abms.org.

ABMS is a not-for-profit organization comprising 24 medical specialty member boards. The primary function of ABMS is to assist its member boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists. ABMS also provides physician certification information for verfication purposes. Click here for more information

The American Board of Medical Specialties Research and Education Foundation is a not-for profit charitable organization affiliated with the American Board of Medical Specialties. Its mission is to support the scientific, scholarly and public education mission, purposes and goals of ABMS to improve healthcare quality. Click here for more information.

A list of the 24 ABMS Member Boards can be found by clicking here.

New specialty boards are approved jointly by action of ABMS and the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education (AMA/CME) following a review by the Liaison Committee for Specialty Boards (LCSB). Boards must meet specific criteria regarding the methods and standards used to evaluate physician training, skills and competence for issuing certification.

There are a number of non-ABMS, “self-designated” medical boards in the United States. Some have applied for ABMS membership and some have not. Applicant boards are reviewed and accepted jointly by ABMS and the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education (AMA/CME) after initial review by Liaison Committee for Specialty Boards (LCSB). ABMS monitors and takes action against any board claiming to be an ABMS Member Board and any individually wrongfully claiming to be board certified by an ABMS Member Board.

Osteopathic boards fall under the umbrell of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). For more information about osteopathic medicine, visit the American Osteopathic Association Web site.

Practitioners of these professions are not certified through ABMS Member Boards. Each of these professions has their own certifying bodies and you should locate these individuals through the appropriate professional organization.

ABMS Member Boards do not certify cosmetic surgeons, though several boards evaluate and certify specialists as qualified to perform some types of plastic or aesthetic (cosmetic) surgery. Contact the ABMS Member Board directly to determine if its physicians are qualified in a specific procedure. Click here for a list of ABMS Member Boards contact information.

A physician specialist, board certified by an ABMS Member Board is a licensed physician who focuses his or her practice in a particular area of medicine or patient care and may concentrate on certain body systems, specific age groups or complex scientific techniques to diagnose or treat particular medical conditions. For more information see About Physician Specialties

Physicians attend an accredited medical school for four years which includes clinical and classroom learning. A period of residency training, generally five to seven years, follows. Physicians wishing to become certified in a subspecialty generally complete an additional one to three years of education and training. For more information see How a Physician Becomes Board Certified or contact the particular ABMS Member Board for specific requirements.

Board certification through an ABMS Member Board means a physician has successfully completed the education, post-doctoral training and an examination process that ensures he or she posesses the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to provide quality patient care in that specialty. For more information, see About Board Certification .

A medical license is legally required in order for a physician to treat patients and is issued by a state or territory where the doctor intends to practice medicine. Board certification granted by an ABMS Member Board is not a requirement to practice medicine, it represents a physician's commitment to become more knowlegable about a specific area of medicine. Most hospitals and managed care organizations require that a certain percentage of their staff be board certified.

Physicians can become certified in more than 145 specialties and subspecialties through ABMS' 24 Member Boards. Click here for a list of the specialty and subspecialty certificates offered by the ABMS Member Boards. You can also view a description for each of these areas of medicine by going to About Physician Specialties.

For initial certification, doctors are evaluated according to the standards set by the ABMS Member Board for education and residency training in their specialty and then must pass written and oral examinations. Click here for a description of the basic process. To maintain certification, ABMS and the ABMS Member Boards established a program of continuous professional development called Maintenance of Certification or MOC. Click here to learn more.

A physician who has met all the requirements for board certification and has passed the certifying examination given by an ABMS Member Board is considered a diplomate of that board.

ABMS and the ABMS Member Boards do not use this term because it does not accurately indicate a physician's progress toward completing his or her certification. To find out a physician's status, we recommend contacting the ABMS Member Board directly.

ABMS Maintenance of Certification® or ABMS MOC® is a professional development program for board certified specialty physicians linked to maintaining certification. It involves continuous education, evaluation and improvement activities which allow physicians to demonstrate their understanding of current treatments and technologies and ability to apply them to provide quality patient care in a particular specialty.

Some doctors of osteopathy are certified by ABMS Member Boards. Other osteopathic physicians may choose to be certified by an ABMS Member Board AND an approved specialty board of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). For more information about osteopathic medicine visit the American Osteopathic Association Web site.