By ABR President Cheri L. Canon, MD February 2026;19(1):2 One of the goals of achieving expertise in a medical specialty is board certification. Certification represents a recognition of significant achievement, established through standardized training and testing, that distinguishes practitioners as possessing the knowledge and skill to practice independently, effectively, and safely in service to patients….
By ABR Board of Trustees Chair Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD, and ABR Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA February 2026;19(1):3 Use of artificial intelligence (AI), accelerated by the introduction of widely available generative tools, has been a leading topic of discussion over the past several years, including myriad implications for medical practice and the medical…
By ABR Board of Trustees Chair Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD; ABR Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA; and ABR President Cheri L. Canon, MD February 2026;19(1):4 The ABR bases its certification decisions on assessment of the knowledge and skill of candidates and diplomates. The materials that we use to make those determinations are the product…
By ABR Communications Manager Rodney Campbell February 2026;19(1):8 AJ Gunn, MD, was destined to become an ABR volunteer. Just maybe not as soon as he wanted. His interest started right after he earned his Initial Certification in interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology (IR/DR) in 2016. As a candidate, he was already thinking of ways to improve the…
By ABR Associate Executive Director for Medical Physics Geoffrey S. Ibbott, PhD; ABR Trustees Sameer Tipnis, PhD, and Jennifer Stickel, PhD; and ABR Board of Trustees Chair Matthew B. Podgorsak, PhD February 2026;19(1):6 An important component of the ABR’s exam quality improvement process is to assess the exam experience from the candidate’s perspective. To this…
By ABR Associate Director of Communications Rodney Campbell February 2026;19(1):7 Brittany Miles, MD, is doing well for a self-described “high-school dropout.” A second-year diagnostic radiology resident at Baylor University Medical Center, Dr. Miles almost didn’t even make it to college. Taking evening community college classes and working overnights at Taco Bell in Midland, Texas, she…
By ABR Communications Manager Rodney Campbell February 2026;19(1):9 Even with a father who served as a team doctor in college and professional athletics, and other close relatives in medical fields, Danny Indelicato, MD, had other plans in college. “I was an English literature major as an undergrad and spent most of my time growing up…
By ABR Associate Executive Director for Interventional Radiology James B. Spies, MD, MPH February 2026;19(1):5 Long before a decision was made, the ABR talked with dozens of stakeholders about what should or should not be done regarding the Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology (IR/DR) Certifying Exam process in light of the ABR’s 2023 decision to include a…
February 2026;19(1):10 More than 32,000 diplomates are enrolled in Continuing Certification. To distribute our customer support functions evenly over this population, 20% of our diplomates are evaluated each year to determine whether they have met the Part 3 requirement (knowledge, judgment, and skills). Although a large majority of the diplomates choose to use OLA for…
When he was in the eighth grade, John Fiveash, MD, knew he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. His plans were next level for a middle schooler. “I thought as an eighth grader that I might starve if I was a laboratory researcher,” Dr. Fiveash said. “I was worried about that. So I decided…
As National Mentoring Month closes, we present these thoughts from stakeholders who have benefitted from being mentees and mentors. Sanjeev Bhalla, MD Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis Mentorship comes in the form of learning the specialty, but it also comes in the form of learning how to perform in the specialty. We learn what’s…
John Fritz Angle, MD, became an ABR Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology Trustee last October. A professor of radiology and medical imaging and director of the division of vascular and interventional radiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Dr. Angle shared his thoughts last year on moving from ABR committee member to the Board of…
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.