A Message from the ABEM President: Ramon W. Johnson, M.D., M.B.A.
Do you have a passion for Emergency Medicine and a desire to give back to your specialty? ABEM offers several volunteer opportunities to participate in exam development and exam administration activities.
Exam Development
Immediately after becoming board certified, physicians are eligible to participate as an ABEM volunteer. If you are skilled in writing, you could be selected as an item writer for one of the three ABEM exams.
- In-training Exam
- Qualifying Exam (written exam)
- MyEMCert
Other volunteer opportunities include developing clinical care cases, OSCEs, and procedure simulations for the new certifying examination.
Exam Administration
You can become an oral board examiner when you’re five years out from EM residency graduation. In previous years, this entailed travelling to the exam site in Chicago. Now, and for the remainder of 2024 and 2025, examiners have the flexibility to be remote and/or in-person.
The new Certifying Exam will begin in 2026 and for each administration, 40 to 50 volunteer examiners will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, while an additional 20-30 examiners will review cases remotely. The Certifying Exam will be administered nine times per year at its inception. Each administration will be 4.5 days of training and testing. The new exam format will allow volunteers flexibility in their schedules including short-term, one-time, or remote options. Information about how to continue participating as an examiner for the new exam will be released this Fall.
Why Volunteer?
Many ABEM volunteers have found that ABEM exam activities allows them to build and maintain comradery. These activities promote personal and professional growth. When volunteers engage in activities about which they are passionate, they are more likely to stay committed to practicing within the specialty, not to mention the personal fulfillment and joy that volunteering brings.
ABEM fosters a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere where volunteers feel appreciated and valued. In addition, ABEM provides all the chocolate M&Ms you can eat.
Volunteering your time may be difficult given the burdensome schedules for emergency physicians, but it’s certainly rewarding. Also, volunteers may advance their profession by obtaining CME credits for volunteer activities such as item development and training exam administration. For community physicians and academicians alike, the challenges of finding a perfect work-life balance are real. The extreme pace of a career in Emergency Medicine may limit some activities but finding time to volunteer for ABEM can be extremely satisfying. In addition, ABEM is committed to thanking our volunteers’ family and employers for giving volunteers the time needed away from other commitments to allow for volunteering with the Board—in fact, we’ll send them a thank-you note!
By participating in our assessment processes, ABEM volunteers help maintain the highest standards in the specialty of Emergency Medicine. The commitment of our volunteers is unparalleled. When others see your commitment to volunteerism, you inspire them to be involved. Finally, there are wonderful social benefits of volunteering, including networking with your friends and colleagues, building new friendships, expanding networks, and fostering a sense of community.
I look forward to seeing you in the near future as an ABEM volunteer!