About

Nuclear Medicine is the medical specialty that uses the tracer principle, most often with radiopharmaceuticals, to evaluate molecular, metabolic, physiologic and pathologic conditions of the body for the purposes of diagnosis, therapy and research.

The ABMS and the specialty boards are accountable both to the public and the medical profession through:

  • Helping Patients by providing information about the board certification process and which doctors are board certified.
  • Supporting Physicians by creating programs that assist doctors in staying current in their field and improve their practice.
  • Collaborating with Healthcare Leaders to foster initiatives for the promotion and monitoring of healthcare quality.
  • Transforming Healthcare by increasing awareness of the importance of board certification and lifelong learning in assuring quality care.

History

The American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM) was the first conjoint board established under provisions of the “Essentials for Approval of Examining Boards in Medical Specialties” of the American Board of Medical Specialties. This was sponsored by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Pathology, the American Board of Radiology, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and approved on June 19, 1971 based on the recommendation of the Liaison Committee for Specialty Boards, the American Board of Medical Specialties and the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association. The ABNM was formally incorporated on July 28, 1971, and its first organizational meeting was held on October 23, 1971. In 1985, with the support of the original sponsors, ABNM became a primary certifying Board.

The ABNM was established to set educational standards and to evaluate the competence of physicians in nuclear medicine. This now includes fusion imaging (PET/CT-SPECT/CT), radionuclide and radiopharmaceutical therapy and molecular imaging. It has responsibility for establishing requirements for certification and Continuing Certification, for conducting exams leading to certification and Continuing Certification in nuclear medicine, and for issuing certificates to those who fulfill its requirements. The Board has certified 5,215 individuals during the period 1972 to 2009.

The ABNM is an independent, non-profit organization, one of 24 medical specialty boards that make up the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Through ABMS, the boards work together to establish common standards for physicians to achieve and maintain board certification. The boards were founded by their respective specialties to protect the public by assessing and certifying doctors who meet specific educational, training and professional requirements.

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Mission

The American Board of Nuclear Medicine is the primary certifying organization for nuclear medicine in the United States. The Board serves the public through assurance of high quality patient care by establishing standards of training, initial certification, and continuing competence of physicians providing nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic services.

Purpose of the Board

The primary purpose of the Board, and therefore its most essential function, is the advancement of the health of the public through the establishment and maintenance of standards of training and education, and the qualification of physicians rendering nuclear medicine services to the people of the United States. The Board contributes to the improvement of health care in the United States and carries out this purpose by:

  1. establishing requirements of graduate training related to exams given by the board;
  2. establishing requirements for Continuing Certification (CC);
  3. assessing the credentials of candidates for exam;
  4. administering an exam for initial certification and Continuing Certification;
  5. granting and issuing certificates in nuclear medicine;
  6. maintaining a registry of holders of such certificates, and serving the medical and lay public by publishing the names of practitioners who have been certified by the Board on the ABMS website www.abms.org).
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ABNM Bylaws