Accreditation and certification in dermatologic surgery

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is an agency that accredits residency-training programs, thus assuring the public of the highest-quality medical education in the United States. Only those residents who complete ACGME-accredited programs qualify for certification by an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)-sponsored board. Certification by the ABMS assures the public that a physician has become competent in a defined body of medical knowledge. Because medicine continuously evolves, the ACGME and the ABMS sponsor a process by which new specialties or subspecialties can be defined, programs accredited, and physicians certified. Procedural dermatology is a surgical subspecialty of dermatology that includes cutaneous oncology (along with Mohs micrographic surgery), cutaneous reconstructive surgery, and cosmetic surgery of the skin. The recent approval by the ACGME to accredit procedural dermatology fellowships establishes the specialty of dermatology as an organ-based body of knowledge that includes medical, pathologic, and surgical skills.