The American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) believes that the delivery of emergency care is best led by physicians with EM training, experience, and ABEM certification. While ABEM honors the contributions to emergency care by other providers, the path to become a nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) is not equivalent to the complex training required to become an ABEM-certified physician.
ABEM reaffirms the requirements for entry into fellowship as stated in the Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography (AEMUS) Program Requirements. Requirements for entry into an AEMUS fellowship refer only to physicians who successfully complete a residency program accredited or approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
The Focused Practice Designation (FPD) is an extension of a physician’s initial certification. The FPD recognizes a physician who demonstrates additional expertise and continued focus within a particular area of a specialty or subspecialty. The FPD requires a physician to hold an active specialty or subspecialty certificate recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. ABEM will only award an FPD to physicians who meet these criteria.