OUR MISSION

The mission of The American Board of Radiology is to serve patients, the public, and the medical profession by certifying that its diplomates have acquired, demonstrated, and maintained a requisite standard of knowledge, skill, and understanding essential to the practice of diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology, and medical physics.

OUR VISION

By 2020, the ABR will have advanced safety and quality in healthcare by setting the definitive professional standards for medical imaging, radiation oncology, and medical physics.

The ABR and ABMS

The ABR is one of 24 medical specialty boards that make up the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Through ABMS, the boards work together to establish common standards for physicians to achieve and maintain board certification. The boards were founded by their respective specialties to protect the public by assessing and certifying doctors who meet specific educational, training and professional requirements. The ABR is an independent, not-for-profit organization. For more information about ABMS, visit www.abms.org .

ABMS and the specialty boards are accountable both to the public and to the medical profession through:

• Helping patients
  by providing information about the board certification process and which doctors are board certified.
• Supporting physicians
  by creating programs that assist doctors in staying current in their field and improving their practice.
• Collaborating with healthcare leaders
  to foster initiatives for the promotion and monitoring of healthcare quality.
• Transforming healthcare
  by increasing awareness of the importance of board certification and lifelong learning in assuring quality care.

ABR History

The ABR is founded
In his 1932 presidential address to the American College of Radiology (ACR), Dr. Arthur C. Christie, a Washington, DC, radiologist, stated the desirability of creating an organization—a new specialty board—to provide examinations for certifying physicians as specialists in the discipline of radiology. It would be called the American Board of Radiology.

A short time after his speech to the ACR, Dr. Christie repeated his proposal at a session of the American Medical Association (AMA) Section on Radiology in June 1933. It was received favorably. After two years of discussion among representatives of the four major national radiology societies (American Roentgen Ray Society, Radiological Society of North America, American Radium Society, and American College of Radiology), the ABR was incorporated in January 1934 in Washington, D.C. The AMA Section on Radiology was the fifth sponsor.

At the time of the ABR’s founding, bylaws were adopted and resolutions were established to ensure the ABR’s proper functioning. The primary charge of the Board was to provide examinations and certify physicians who sought recognition as radiologists. The Board found it necessary to define residency training requirements, which led it to co-sponsor residency review committees for diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology. In 1947, the Board began to examine and certify candidates for recognition as radiologic physicists.

Growth and change
Since 1934, the field of radiology has expanded dramatically. To allow physicians to “acquire and maintain” the appropriate knowledge and skill for their practice domains, radiation oncology and diagnostic radiology developed separate training programs, and both lengthened residency to four years. Medical physics,

recognized as important from the outset, continues to play a critical role in the education of physician and physicist candidates for certification by the ABR.

New sponsors, including the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and the Association of University Radiologists, were added over the years ( see links to sponsors ). All eight organizations are represented on the Board of Trustees by three persons nominated from each of those organizations and elected by the ABR Trustees.

In addition to the ABMS , the ABR maintains open working relationships with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education ( ACGME ) and the Residency Review Committees for Diagnostic Radiology and Radiation Oncology. The Board continues active interaction with its sponsoring organizations, other medical specialty boards, specialty societies, medical societies, residency program directors, chairmen of hospital departments, diplomates of this board, and the entire radiologic community.
For more information, read Dr. Gary Becker’s chapter from the ABR 75th Anniversary history book: “ Past Influences, Present Transitions, and Future Directions ”.