The certification process in adolescent medicine

The first and second certifying examinations in adolescent medicine were administered jointly by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) on November 15, 1994, to 295 candidates, and on November 18, 1997, to 197 candidates including 170 who were taking the examination for the first time. This report describes the certification process and the characteristics of those taking the first and second examinations in adolescent medicine. The purposes of certification in adolescent medicine, consistent with the purposes of specialty boards, are to improve the quality of patient care during the second decade of life, expand and improve training to include a comprehensive and scientifically based approach to the care of young people as they enter adulthood, and stimulate faculty development and research for the problems of the adolescent population (1). Certification addresses these goals by establishing rigorous standards for training, verifying the knowledge base of candidates through a written examination, and requiring periodic recertification. This certification program recognizes a growing number of physicians with expertise in the medical problems of adolescents and the emergence in the past 30 years of a body of knowledge about the health problems, the effects of rapid biologic and psychologic change, and the interaction of biologic, psychologic, social, and environmental forces that characterize this unique developmental period (2).