The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has established a procedure for certification in pediatric rheumatology. In addition to the specific admission requirements listed below, General Eligibility Criteria for all ABP Subspecialties must be fulfilled to be eligible for certification.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Three years of full-time, broad based fellowship training in pediatric rheumatology are required to be completed in a program accredited for training in pediatric rheumatology by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in the United States or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Absences from Training
No continuous absence of more than 1 year will be permitted. Due to the potential for significant changes in medicine over time, the Credentials Committee must review requests for previous credit when a fellow has interrupted fellowship for more than 12 months.
Absences/leaves in excess of 3 months during the 3 years of training, whether for vacation, parental leave, illness, and so forth, must be made up. If the program director believes that the candidate is well qualified and has met all requirements, the program director may submit a petition to the ABP requesting an exemption to the policy. Training time cannot be waived for convenience, such as for fellows who begin training off cycle.
Part-time training may be completed over no more than 6 years.
The following must be accomplished in order to become certified in the subspecialty:
SUBCERTIFICATION IN PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY AND ALLERGY/IMMUNOLOGY
A candidate who is certified in pediatrics may qualify for subcertification in both pediatric rheumatology and allergy/immunology with a shorter total period of training than that presently required (3 years of pediatric rheumatology plus 2 years of allergy/immunology). This compression of training by 1 year can be accomplished by successfully completing scholarly activity/research training relating to the requirements of both the Subboard of Pediatric Rheumatology and the Conjoint Board of Allergy and Immunology.
The total training program would require no less than 4 years (48 months) with at least 1 year (12 months) spent in clinical rheumatology training and 1 year (12 months) in clinical training for allergy/immunology. The clinical rheumatology training should also include at least another 2 years (24 months) with at least 2 days/week of an outpatient rheumatology experience plus 1 month/year of inpatient rheumatology service to assure longitudinal exposure to rheumatologic problems in children. The scholarly activity/research requirement should be relevant to both rheumatology and allergy/immunology, particularly immunologically related research. Approved candidates will be eligible to apply for the pediatric rheumatology certifying examination after satisfactorily completing all training in both rheumatology and allergy/immunology. Candidates must meet the requirement for Scholarly Activity, which documents participation in a core curriculum and approval of the work product and personal statement by the Scholarship Oversight Committee in order to take a pediatric rheumatology certifying examination.
It should be noted that these criteria and conditions are subject to change without notice. All applicants are advised to contact the ABP to ascertain whether the information they have is current.
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