ABR Seeks Public Member for Board of Governors
By Cheri L. Canon, MD, ABR President, and John A. Kaufman, MD, MS, ABR President-elect
2024;17(5):4
The ABR is seeking qualified applicants for a volunteer public member position on its Board of Governors (BOG). The board’s mission is to certify that our diplomates demonstrate the requisite knowledge, skill, and understanding of their disciplines to the benefit of patients.
The ABR provides both Initial and Continuing Certification in diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology, medical physics, and radiation oncology, and is one of the Member Boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Discussions among BOG members benefit from the varied backgrounds of individuals with diverse experience, including those in both academic and nonacademic practice settings alongside a public member from outside the profession. BOG members often bring experience from senior leadership roles in their institutions and/or national organizations. Although most members of the BOG are ABR diplomates, public members offer distinct perspectives because they are not radiologists, radiation oncologists, or medical physicists. Public members have the same voting privileges as other members of the board and, like all members, act in support of the mission.
Ideal candidates will have one or more of the following attributes: knowledge of health policy and regulation; service in complex organizations (including nonprofits); experience as faculty in graduate or postgraduate education; and experience with assessment and testing processes in adults. Interest or expertise in information technology, legal frameworks, innovation, quality improvement science, outcomes research, patient advocacy, or nonprofit governance would also be helpful. Nominees must be serious and independent thinkers. The ABR recognizes the value of diverse perspectives that might be offered by individuals of different races, ethnicities, and genders. A candidate for a position as a public member may not be a physician or a medical physicist.
The annual in-person meeting attendance requirement is 10 workdays (full-week meetings in early fall and late winter) and one weekend day (late spring). Videoconferences, 60-90 minutes in duration, are held six to eight times per year. Travel expenses are reimbursed, but volunteer board members are not compensated for their time. The initial term is two years. Interested candidates may submit a curriculum vitae or resume, along with a letter of interest of less than two pages, to cmoreno@theabr.org.