A physician, medical practitioner, medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments. Physicians may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment—known as specialities—or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities—known as general practice. Medical practice properly requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines, such as anatomy and physiology, underlying diseases, and their treatment, which is the science of medicine, and a decent competence in its applied practice, which is the art or craft of the profession.
A medical license is an occupational license that permits a person to legally practice medicine. In most countries, a person must have a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a government agency before they can practice medicine. Licenses are not granted automatically to all people with medical degrees. A medical school graduate must receive a license to practice medicine to legally be called a physician. The process typically requires testing by a medical board. The medical license is the documentation of authority to practice medicine within a certain locality. An active license is also required to practice medicine as an assistant physician, a physician assistant or a clinical officer in jurisdictions with authorizing legislation.
The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a three-step examination program for medical licensure in the United States sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Physicians with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree are required to pass the USMLE for medical licensure. However, those with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree (DO) are required to take the COMLEX-USA (COMLEX) exams but may also sit for the USMLE as well.
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is a non-profit organization established in 1933 which represents 24 broad areas of specialty medicine. ABMS is the largest and most widely recognized physician-led specialty certification organization in the United States. The other certification organizations in the United States are the American Board of Physician Specialties and American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists.
The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, based in Greeley, Colorado, is a non-profit organization which facilitates the coordination and communication of the 50 individual United States' chiropractic licensing boards.
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, self-appointed physician-evaluation organization that certifies physicians practicing internal medicine and its subspecialties. The American Board of Internal Medicine is not a membership society, educational institution, or licensing body.
Maintenance of Certification (MOC) is a recently implemented and controversial process of physician certification maintenance through one of the 24 approved medical specialty boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the 18 approved medical specialty boards of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The MOC process is controversial within the medical community, with proponents claiming that it is a voluntary program that improves physician knowledge and demonstrates a commitment to lifelong learning. Critics claim that MOC is an expensive, burdensome, involuntary and clinically irrelevant process that has been created primarily as a money-making scheme for the ABMS and the AOA.
Board certification is the process by which a physician, veterinarian, or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, oral, practical, or simulator-based testing.
The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), the official certifying body for the American Association of Physician Specialists (AAPS) is a non-profit umbrella organization for sixteen medical specialty boards that certifies and re-certifies physicians in fourteen medical specialties in the United States and Canada. It is one of three certifying bodies in the United States in addition to the American Board of Medical Specialties, and American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists. The ABPS oversees Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) certification in the United States. The ABPS assists its Member Boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists. It is recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licensed as a physician or surgeon and thus have full medical and surgical practicing rights in all 50 US states. As of 2021, there were 168,701 osteopathic physicians and medical students in DO programs across the United States. Osteopathic medicine emerged historically from the quasi-medical practice of osteopathy, but has become a distinct and proper medical profession.
Humayun Javaid Chaudhry, D.O., MACP, FRCP (Lon.), FRCP (Edin.) is an American physician and medical educator who is president and chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) of the United States, a national non-profit organization founded in 1912 that represents the 70 state medical boards of the United States and its territories and which co-sponsors the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). From 2007 to 2009, he served as Commissioner of Health Services for Suffolk County, New York, the state's most populous county outside New York City. In 2016, he was listed by Modern Healthcare magazine as one of the 50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders.
The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), founded in 1915, is a United States non-profit which develops and manages assessments student physicians. Known for its role in developing the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) in partnership with the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), USMLE examinations for medical students and residents are used by medical licensing authorities in the U.S. to help determine qualifications to grant and recognize medical licenses. NBME also creates assessments and materials that are used by medical students, medical educators, practicing physicians, and for state testing of physicians already holding licenses.
Health professional requisites refer to the regulations used by countries to control the quality of health workers practicing in their jurisdictions and to control the size of the health labour market. They include licensure, certification and proof of minimum training for regulated health professions.
The Texas Medical Board (TMB) is the state agency mandated to regulate the practice of medicine by Doctors of Medicine (MDs) and Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) in Texas. The Board consists of 12 physician members and seven public members appointed for a six-year term by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The full Board is required to meet at least four times a year but customarily convenes five times a year. Typical Board business includes interviewing licensure candidates, considering disciplinary matters and adopting substantive and procedural rules. Additionally, Board committees address a variety of important issues.
Physicians are an important part of health care in the United States. The vast majority of physicians in the US have a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, though some have a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), or Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).
The Center for Personalized Education for Physicians (CPEP) is a non-profit organization, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and it specializes in physician competency assessment and educational intervention. The organization was established in 1990 as a collaborative effort of seven Colorado healthcare organizations: the Colorado Alliance for CME, the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, the Colorado Hospital Association, the Colorado Medical Society, the Colorado Physician Health Program, the Colorado Society of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (AOBNP) is an organization that provides board certification to qualified Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) and non-osteopathic physicians who specialize in disorders of the nervous system (neurologists) and to qualified Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine and physicians who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders (psychiatrists).
The National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME), founded in 1934 as the National Osteopathic Board of Examiners for Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, Inc., is a United States examination board which sets state recognized examinations for osteopathic medical students and began administering exams in February 1935. The NBOME is an independent, nonprofit organization and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The NBOME states that its mission is "to protect the public by providing the means to assess competencies for osteopathic medicine and related health care professions." The NBOME conducts research to monitor the quality of the COMLEX examinations.
The Oregon Medical Board (OMB) is the agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for establishing the rules and regulations governing the practice of medicine in Oregon. The Board's office is located in Portland, Oregon. It is a member of the Federation of State Medical Boards.
The Medical Licensing Board of Indiana is a state government agency that licenses and disciplines physicians, surgeons and other healthcare professionals in Indiana. It is a member of the Federation of State Medical Boards.
