Applying to the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program

The application period for the 2025-2026 cohort is March 10 – June 23, 2025.

Greg Ogrinc, MD, MS, ABMS Senior Vice President of Certification Standards and Programs, discusses the value of the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program.

Join Us for an Informational Webinar

April 15 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm (CT)

You’ll hear from program leaders on how to apply and from alumni about the benefits of participating in the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program.


ABMS Visiting Scholars may be sponsored by the ABMS Research and Education Foundation or by a sponsoring ABMS Member Board. During the program year, Scholars remain at their home institutions and work with self-selected mentors. They provide research project updates during monthly webinar sessions and get feedback and guidance from their peers, mentors, subject matter experts, and ABMS Visiting Scholars alumni. Scholars attend virtual ABMS committee meetings and present their research findings before a national audience at the annual ABMS Conference. An award of $15,000 is provided to support the direct costs of research and travel expenses associated with program participation.

Application Information

Applicants should consider the impact of their proposed research project on reducing health disparities and contributing to the development of a qualified and diversified workforce. Applications to the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program are completed through the Cadmium Abstract ScoreCard platform. Contact the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program for more information.

Hear from recent ABMS Visiting Scholars on why you should apply to the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program.
Important Dates
  • Application Period Opens: March 10, 2025
  • Informational Webinar: April 15, 2025
  • Application Deadline: June 23, 2025
  • Notification of Award: August 2025
  • Scholar Year Start: September 2025 at ABMS Conference
  • Scholar Year Concludes: September 2026 at ABMS Conference
Eligibility

The ABMS Visiting Scholars Program is ideal for individuals looking to positively impact their profession as well as specialty certification through research.

  • Early-career physicians, junior faculty, fellows, and residents, as well as individuals holding master or doctorate degrees in public health, health services research, educational evaluation and statistics, and public health policy and administration.
  • Veterans Affairs trainees and researchers.
  • Student visas are not available.
Research Priorities

The research priorities of the ABMS Research and Education Foundation and the sponsoring ABMS Member Boards are shown below.

ABMS Research and Education Foundation

Research priorities for the ABMS Research and Education Foundation include:

  • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
  • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
  • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
  • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
  • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
American Board of Allergy and Immunology

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Allergy and Immunology include:

  • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
  • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
  • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
  • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
  • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
American Board of Dermatology

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Dermatology include:

  • Outcomes of implementing the APPLIED Exam
  • Competency-based assessment strategies beyond medical knowledge assessment
  • Integration of cultural competency principles into our dermatology assessment continuum
  • Measures of professionalism
  • Learning from the selection of and self-reported impacts from the board’s focused Practice Improvement Modules
  • Study the certainty and relevance scoring of CertLink questions in use and categorize these by topic area, subspecialty area, discrepancy status
  • The effectiveness of graded article-based CertLink questions for formative learning compared with simply reading articles, participating in journal clubs, or other methods of article review
  • Resident selection methods – holistic vs traditional – and resident characteristics’
  • Artificial intelligence use, validity, and reliability in writing evidence-based critiques for board-style self-assessment questions
American Board of Emergency Medicine

The American Board of Emergency Medicine is sponsoring a scholar through the J. David Barry, MD, Visiting Scholar Fellowship for emergency medicine physicians with:

  • Experience as a military physician;
  • Interest in physician wellness research such as burnout, fitness, and mindfulness;
  • Interest in residency education and research;
  • Innovations in continuing certification assessment and education; or
  • Interest in medical toxicology
American Board of Internal Medicine

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Internal Medicine include:

    • Investigating the evolution of medical professional values and assessment of professionalism in an evolving healthcare landscape
    • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
    • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
    • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
    • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
    • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology include:

  • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
  • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
  • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
  • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
  • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
American Board of Ophthalmology

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Ophthalmology include:

  • Evaluates the effectiveness of its programs and activities;
  • Examines the relationships between certification and physician education, clinical practice, and career-long improvement;
  • Contributes meaningfully to the literature about physician competence; and,
  • Promotes psychometric equity, excellence, and fairness
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery include:

  • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
  • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
  • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
  • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
  • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation include:

  • Competency based medical education (CBME) in physical medicine and rehabilitation
    • Possible areas: tracking progress through residency, self-assessment exam, use of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) to measure achievement of competencies in residency
  • Professionalism assessments as part of continuing certification, positive professionalism
  • Pediatric rehabilitation exposure in medical school and residency
American Board of Radiology

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Radiology include:

  • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
  • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
  • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
  • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
  • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
American Board of Surgery

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Surgery include:

  • Value of continuous certification
  • Continuous certification assessment and quality
  • Value of board certification
American Board of Urology

Possible research topics of interest to the American Board of Urology include:

  • Diagnostic and prognostic excellence through initial or continuing certification, within and across specialties
  • Adoption of competency-based medical education and innovative assessments for initial or continuing certification
  • Health care equity and diversity across the continuum of physician professional development
  • Trainee and diplomate engagement in quality and safety activities, especially if related to improving physician well-being
  • Intersection between a physician’s work, technology (e.g., electronic health records or artificial intelligence), and certification
  • Utilizing Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) and diagnostic and surgical simulations as effective tools for both formative and summative assessment.
Application

Proposed research projects can be established research projects with a new scope of work or original research projects. A research mentor must be identified through the application process. All applicants should consider the impact of their proposed research project on reducing health disparities and contributing to the development of a qualified and diversified workforce.

Applications will include:

  • A project description including research questions, plan, budget, expected outcomes, and timeline.
  • A statement describing interests and goals for program participation. All applicants should consider the impact of their proposed research project on reducing health disparities and contributing to the development of a qualified and diversified workforce.
  • Two letters of recommendation: one from the chosen research mentor; and one from the department chair, associate dean/assistant dean, residency program director; or another supervisor.
  • A current professional CV.

Applications to the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program are completed through the Cadmium Abstract ScoreCard platform.

Selection

ABMS Visiting Scholars are selected based on the quality of their proposed research project, the relevance of their research to the ABMS certification research priorities, and the likelihood of making substantial progress on the project during the cohort year. Applications developed in collaboration with one or more ABMS Member Boards may receive priority.


Start an Application

Applications to the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program are completed through the Cadmium Abstract ScoreCard platform. A PDF of the application is provided for reference.


Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program for more information.