The American Board of Medical Specialties is one step closer to creating an independent board of cardiology medicine. Recently, it created a formal board of directors and its Specialty Board Development group opened a comment period.
The 90-day open comment period is a critical part of the application review process, according to an April 25 American College of Cardiology news release. ABMS is seeking to gauge support for the new board, including feedback from clinicians and patients. The comment period will close July 24.
The first 10 directors of the prospective board were selected. They will be instrumental in ushering the proposed board through the application process and overseeing prelaunch projects. Here are the 10 directors: Jeffrey Kuvin, MD (president); Mark Drazner, MD (treasurer); Jodie Hurwitz, MD (secretary); Peter Duffy, MD; David Faxon, MD; Edward Fry, MD; Judith Hochman, MD; Michelle Kittleson, MD, PhD; Daniel Kolansky, MD; and Gregory Michaud, MD.
"The house of cardiology has come together and acknowledged that cardiology has become a separate specialty and warrants its own board," Dr. Kuvin told Becker's. "There has been a rallying cry across cardiology recognizing that we have evolved to a unique specialty with our own training paradigms, our own guidelines, our own national databases, our own literature, our own competency statements, and that now is the time to develop a separate board of cardiovascular medicine."
Support for the creation of an independent cardiology medicine board has been voiced by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the Heart Failure Society of America, the Heart Rhythm Society and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions.