Clinical Informatics Becomes a Board-certified Medical Subspecialty Following ABMS Vote

September 22, 2011
AMIA to offer prep courses for clinicians who sit for Board Exam

Washington, DC—Today, AMIA—the association for informatics professionals—announces the success of a multi-year initiative to elevate clinical informatics to an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) subspecialty certified by an examination administered by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and available to physicians who have primary specialty certification through the American Board of Medical Specialties. Joining such subspecialties as pediatric anesthesiology, medical toxicology, sports medicine, geriatrics medicine, and cardiovascular disease, clinical informatics (CI) certification will be based on a rigorous set of core competencies, heavily influenced by publications on the subject that were developed by AMIA and its members, many of whom have pioneered the field and supported CI’s new status as an ABMS-recognized area of clinical expertise. The goal for the first board exam is to have it available in Fall 2012, with the first certificates awarded early in 2013. To prepare physicians who wish to sit for this examination, AMIA is developing preparatory materials both as online and in-person courses starting Spring 2012.

"It is entirely appropriate and timely to certify clinical informatics as a specialized area of training and expertise in an era when more and more clinicians are turning to data-driven, computer-assisted clinical decision support to provide care for their patients," said AMIA’s Board of Directors Chair Nancy M. Lorenzi, PhD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “Clinical informatics blends medical and informatics knowledge to support and optimize healthcare delivery."

What is a physician technologist?

What is a physician technologist? You won't find this job description too often. There is no formal medical specialty that gives anyone the title or designation of "physician technologist." So, in some ways the phrase "physician technologist" can imply that you're a physician executive who specializes in the application of technology and/or informatics. However, if we're talking about informatics, there are specific job titles that already exist. Some of them include:

• Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO)
• Medical Director of Information Systems
• Medical Director of Clinical Informatics

There are professional societies like the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) that support the field of clinical or medical informatics. Soon, we'll see the emergence of a new medical specialty called "clinical informatics." In November 2008, the AMIA Board of Directors approved the Core Content and Training Program Requirements for clinical informatics. The American Board of Preventive Medicine will be the home medical specialty board for the clinical informatics subspecialty and we should soon see the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) formally recognizing the subspecialty of clinical informatics.

Are you familiar with these medical specialties?

Medical students are least familiar with these Recognized Physician Specialty and Subspecialty Certificates: (listed on the American Board of Medical Specialties)

American Board of Preventive Medicine
Aerospace Medicine*
Occupational Medicine*
Public Health and General Preventive Medicine*
Medical Toxicology
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

American Board of Medical Genetics
Clinical Biochemical Genetics*
Clinical Cytogenetics*
Clinical Genetics (MD)*
Clinical Molecular Genetics*
Medical Biochemical Genetics2
Molecular Genetic Pathology

American Board of Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear Medicine

American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Neuromuscular Medicine
Pain Medicine
Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
Sports Medicine

If I Could Go Through Life Again

If I could go through life again, I think I'd like to pursue a career in Aerospace Medicine. What is Aerospace Medicine?

According to the American Board of Preventive Medicine, "Aerospace medicine focuses on the clinical care, research, and operational support of the health, safety, and performance of crewmembers and passengers of air and space vehicles, together with the support personnel who assist operation of such vehicles. This population often works and lives in remote, isolated, extreme, or enclosed environments under conditions of physical and psychological stress. Practitioners strive for an optimal human-machine match in occupational settings rich with environmental hazards and engineering countermeasures."

Kids often grow up with lofty dreams. I always wanted to be an astronaut or a fighter jet pilot (yes, you can blame those dreams and ambitions on my love for Star Wars and science fiction). However, my dreams shifted towards biomedical engineering as I got older and those dreams of space travel faded away. Now, as I look back on life, I wonder what life would have been like if I had pursued aerospace medicine. Preventive medicine is not a specialty that is emphasized very much in most medical schools. In fact, I still meet many medical students who are not familiar with this specialty. They have no idea that you can do a residency that also includes the completion of an MPH degree.