The primary purpose and most essential function of the Board is to protect the public by establishing and maintaining high standards in thoracic surgery. To achieve these objectives, the Board has established qualifications for examination and procedures for certification and Maintenance of Certification. The requirements and procedures are reviewed regularly and modified as necessary.
Board certification in a medical specialty is evidence that a physician's qualifications for specialty practice are recognized by his or her peers. It is not intended to define the requirements for membership on hospital staffs, to gain special recognition or privileges for its Diplomates, to define the scope of specialty practice, or to state who may or may not engage in the practice of the specialty. Specialty certification of a physician does not relieve a hospital's governing body from responsibility in determining the hospital privileges of such specialist.
The Board does not use or sanction the terms "board eligible" or "board qualified." The Board does not consider any physician to be a candidate for examination until he or she has made formal application and has been accepted for examination. Acceptance for examination acknowledges only that the candidate has successfully fulfilled the requirements and does not recognize that he or she is a specialist in thoracic surgery.
2009 ABTS Officers and Directors
Front Row: David Harpole, Jr., William Baumgartner, Valerie Rusch, Richard Feins; John Calhoon, Bruce Lytle, R. Scott Mitchell
Back Row: David Fullerton, Edward Bove, Douglas Wood, Cameron Wright, John Mayer, Jr., Richard Shemin, J. Wayne Meredith, Curtis Tribble, George Hicks, Jr., Mark Allen