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John B. McCabe, M.D., ABMS Chair;
Mark T. Steele, M.D. ABEM President;
Debra G. Perina, M.D., ABEM Immediate-Past-President; and
Kevin B. Weiss, M.D., ABMS President & CEO
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EMS Approved as an Emergency Medicine Subspecialty
East Lansing, MI – September 28, 2010 -- The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) announces that the subspecialty of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) at the General Assembly of its members on September 23, 2010. EMS is a medical subspecialty that involves prehospital emergency patient care, including initial patient stabilization, treatment, and transport in specially equipped ambulances or helicopters to hospitals.
“The purpose of subspecialty certification in EMS is to standardize physician training and qualifications for EMS practice, to improve patient safety and enhance the quality of emergency medical care provided to patients in the prehospital environment, and to facilitate further integration of prehospital patient treatment into the continuum of patient care. We are pleased that EMS has been recognized by ABMS as a clinical discipline that extends emergency care to the acutely ill and injured patient in the prehospital venue.” stated Mark T. Steele, M.D., ABEM President.
EMS becomes the sixth subspecialty available to ABEM diplomates along with Medical Toxicology, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Sports Medicine, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The development of EMS as a subspecialty has been discussed for many years but it was through the concerted efforts of the National Association of EMS Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and ABEM that certification in the subspecialty was approved.
ABEM has assembled an EMS Examination Task Force composed of 12 EMS physicians that is working on the development of the EMS subspecialty examination and maintenance of certification program. It is anticipated that the first examination will be given in the fall of 2013.
Click for EMS Eligibility Requirement Criteria. |