Physician wound certification: a much-needed reality too long denied

Over the past 20 years, the number of physicians who focus their practice on wounds and wound care has grown slowly but significantly. It is estimated that there are >13,000 physicians who practice wound care but who have no 'home' to nurture their discipline and ensure, through standards and best practices, quality in the care they deliver. Unlike most others, these physicians pursue patient care without a certifying medical board to confirm the quality of their care and the scope of their practice. Because organised medicine correctly insists on quality in the care physicians deliver, it is time to establish a subspecialty in wound care. However, establishing a new subspecialty is a very challenging task. It raises questions of overlapping jurisdiction with other medical boards, about the multiplicity of subspecialties and the challenge of ensuring that enough physicians will seek certification to cover the costs of examinations, etc. All of these issues can be met with satisfactory responses. The time for action is now.