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Ask the expert: How did the new specialty certification for child abuse pediatrics evolve?

Credentialing Resource Center Connection , October 29, 2009

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Have you ever wondered exactly how specialty boards develop new certifications? The evolution process for each certification share common elements.

In the case of child abuse pediatrics, a group of practitioners petitioned the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) to offer the certification, says Gail McGuiness, MD, executive vice president of the American Board of Pediatrics.

“There comes a point in time where it has matured enough where the practitioners will come to the board and say we wish to ask the board to consider giving a certificate, developing the process for the examination, and then, ultimately, for maintenance of certification in that area, and that’s what happened with child abuse,” says McGuinness.

Once the board receives the petition, it examines the field, including how many practitioners are practicing within this specialty, what professional groups and scholarly journals exist to promote it, and—most importantly, says McGuinness—whether the development of the new specialty will benefit children.

After the ABP votes to approve certification, it petitions the American Board of Medical Specialties, its umbrella organization, to offer the certification.

“By doing that, we hear from anyone who may disagree, who may think it’s not a good thing, may have a differing opinion,” she says. “Once it’s approved by ABMS, our board, not ABMS, develops the examination.”

ABP publishes the content outlines for subspecialty certifying examinations on its Web site. Practitioners can access this information for child abuse pediatrics at http://tinyurl.com/yh75bye.

This week’s question and answer if from the December issue of Briefings on Credentialing, available on the Credentialing Resource Center Web site in mid-November. 

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