Saturday October 25, 2008
Warning regarding scam “Certification Boards”

ABIM has received reports from several of our diplomates regarding letters and solicitations they have received from groups offering “certification” in Geriatric Medicine, Cardiology and Hospital Medicine, among other things. ABIM is concerned about the welfare of patients who may choose doctors representing themselves as “board certified” based on their possession of a certificate from unaccredited “boards” that award certificates but require no accredited training, testing or medical background review. Have you been contacted by any of the following groups? These phony “medical boards” have been reported to ABIM as fraudulent, and if you hear from them, or receive any certification information that seems suspicious, ABIM would like to know about it.

If you have been approached by an organization calling itself a board that is not a member of ABMS or the American Osteopathic Association or has not established its status by state licensure board recognition, please e-mail security@abim.org for information on these possible “scams” and what can be done to assure the professional integrity of medical specialty certification.