By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager June 2024;17(3):10 When the ABR Board of Governors approved funding to sponsor the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Visiting Scholars Program starting in 2022, it provided another avenue for residents and ABR-certified early career physicians and physicists to pursue their research goals. Four physicians have benefitted from being…
By Gary J. Becker, MD, Former ABR Executive Director June 2024;17(3):15 In February, we lost a world-renowned pioneering interventional radiologist, extraordinary medical leader, husband, father, grandpa (of 10), friend, and colleague — Bill Casarella. Born to Italian immigrant parents in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bill grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, graduated from Yale University (cum laude…
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager June 2024;17(3):11 Like many of his colleagues, Brian Funaki, MD, remembers what it was like to earn ABR certification as a diagnostic radiologist in the 20th century. All roads led to Louisville’s Executive West Hotel. Now a Crowne Plaza property, the hotel was the site of in-person oral certifying…
By Michael Yunes, MD, Associate Executive Director for Radiation Oncology June 2024;17(3):9 The heart and soul of the ABR is the amazing core of approximately 1,300 volunteers, including more than 300 in radiation oncology. In our profession, physicians continually give to patients and their families, but we also find time and energy to support many…
By Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, and Paul J. Rochon, MD, ABR Trustees June 2024;17(3):5 The ABR is dedicated to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in all its efforts and activities with candidates, diplomates, volunteers, staff, and the public. The ABR DEI Committee is responsible for making recommendations and developing and supporting initiatives to create…
By Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD, ABR Board of Trustees Chair; Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, and Robert A. Pooley, PhD, ABR Trustees; Jennifer Stickel, PhD, Future ABR Trustee; and Geoffrey S. Ibbott, PhD, ABR Associate Executive Director for Medical Physics June 2024;17(3):8 For medical physics (MP) candidates seeking initial board certification, the ABR administers three computer-based…
Diplomates Prefer OLA for Part 3 Continuing Certification Requirement June 2024;17(3):13 In this video, ABR Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, talks about the Part 3 requirement (“Assessment of Knowledge, Judgment, and Skills”) for Continuing Certification. Compared with a point-in-time exam, Online Longitudinal Assessment (OLA) has been overwhelmingly preferred by ABR diplomates because it offers…
June 2024;17(3):16 ABR volunteer and radiation oncologist Kenneth Rosenzweig, MD, has been named to the organization’s Board of Trustees (BOT). Dr. Rosenzweig will start at the end of the fall board meeting in late September. Dr. Rosenzweig is chair of the department of radiation oncology at Mount Sinai Health System and a professor in the…
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager June 2024;17(3):12 Writing questions for ABR exams is serious work. But volunteers can still have fun in the process. Christine Eyler, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist and member of a committee that develops questions for the Biology and Physics Qualifying Exam, said she and her colleagues find ways to…
By Navneeth Hariharan, ME April 2024;17(2):8 Radiation oncology is a dynamic field that has evolved significantly in recent years, from integrating advanced technologies to using multidisciplinary care pathways. This article delves into resource allocation in radiation oncology and describes the current clinical practice environment, the changes that have led us here, and how we can…
By Brent Wagner, MD, MBA, ABR Executive Director, and Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD, ABR Board of Trustees Chair April 2024;17(2):4 The accelerated evolution of generative artificial intelligence (AI), including ChatGPT, has revealed not only a new horizon of seemingly boundless applications but also myriad concerns, as large language models produce content that is often indistinguishable…
By Rodney Campbell, ABR Communications Manager April 2024;17(2):5 As a physician who switched career paths, Derek Johnson, MD, has passed his share of Initial and Continuing Certification exams. He’s now lending his expertise to making ABR exams fair and relevant by serving as a volunteer. Dr. Johnson started his medical career as a neuro-oncologist and…
The ABR is a not-for-profit organization and member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. Our mission is to certify that our diplomates demonstrate the requisite knowledge, skill, and understanding of their disciplines to the benefit of patients. Our vision is to positively impact the lives of all patients as the foremost trusted certifying body assuring the highest standards of specialty expertise and professionalism in the radiological sciences.