Psychosomatic Medicine Subspecialty Information

After more than a decade of effort by countless members and friends of APM, at the March 2003 meeting of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) the Assembly approved the issuance of subspecialty certificates in Psychosomatic Medicine (PM) by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). In June 2003, the Academy received approval from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). In June 2005, the first ABPN examination in Psychosomatic Medicine took place.

For more information about the subspecialty approval, see Subspecialty Documents below.

SUBSPECIALTY EXAM

Two subspecialty examinations have been held thus far, in 2005 and 2006. Am J Psychiatry published a list of all 2005 certifications in its August 2006 issue in "ABPN Report on the 2005 Examinations." A PDF reprint is avaiable here. Psychosomatic Medicine certifications are on journal pages 1469-1470 (or PDF pages 6-7). For more information about the 2005 exam and its statistics, see "PM Subspecialty Exam: 2005 Results" on page 9 of APM's Summer 2006 Newsletter.

The next subspecialty examination in Psychosomatic Medicine will be administered April 14–18, 2008 (the examination schedule is at www.abpn.com/exam_schedules.htm) with a registration deadline of November 1, 2007 (December 1 with a late fee).

For more information and an application (available August 1, 2007), see the ABPN web site or contact the ABPN office, 500 Lake Cook Rd., Deerfield, IL 60015; (847) 945-7900.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

To sit for a subspecialty examination, physicians must be Board-certified in Psychiatry by February 1 of the year of the subspecialty examination.  This means that a physician who is scheduled for the September 2007 Part II examination in Psychiatry would need to apply for the April 2008 Psychosomatic Medicine examination prior to completing the Part II examination.  The physician would be credentialed and approved pending completion of the Part II examination.  If the physician passes the Part II examination, he or she would be accepted for the Psychosomatic Medicine examination.  If the physician fails the Part II examination, his or her application for Psychosomatic Medicine would be denied, and the physician would forfeit the application fee.  The examination fee would be refunded.

In addition to being certified in Psychiatry, applicants for subspecialty certification must meet the Board’s licensure and ACGME training requirements. For the first five years that the examination is administered (the “grandfathering” period), there are two alternatives to ACGME-accredited fellowship training in psychosomatic medicine:

After the 2009 examination, new applicants will be required to successfully complete one year of ACGME-accredited fellowship training in psychosomatic medicine.

Questions should be directed to the ABPN Credentials Department at (847) 374-4209.

PREPARING FOR THE EXAM

In November 2004, the Academy held a two-day Board Review Course designed to assist applicants in preparing for the 2005 exam. The Review Course included 14 CME hours of live presentations by international leaders in the field, plus two accompanying CD-ROMs featuring all live presentations plus an additional 10 CME hours of instruction, references, and exam-type questions. These CDs are available for purchase. Although CME credits can no longer be earned, the course is valuable preparation for the exam. For session topics, course presenters, and how to order the CDs, see Board Review Course.
 

SUBSPECIALTY DOCUMENTS

Proposal for Recognition of "PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE" as a Psychiatric Subspecialty Lyketsos CG and Levenson J with the APM Task Force for Subspecialization, July 2001 This proposal was submitted by the APM Task Force to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) for specialty board status. While much of the work for this was performed behind the scenes, the document is an excellent review of the proposal process, training details, and expectations in our field, and a valuable resource for preparing other types of proposals involving Consultation-Liaison (or now Psychosomatic) Psychiatry.

Program Requirements for Residency Education in Psychosomatic Medicine The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), effective June 2003

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