Celebrating 30 Years of Electrodiagnostic Excellence With the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine

Newswise — Phoenix, September 13, 2017 – The 2017 American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) Annual Meeting marks the 30th anniversary of the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM), the only U.S. exam certifying physicians in electrodiagnostic (EDX) medicine, ensuring quality care for patients everywhere.

“I’m incredibly proud to be a part of ABEM’s history and its future,” said ABEM Chair John England, MD. “ABEM has worked tirelessly to ensure patients receive the highest quality care and will continue to do so. From the creation of the ABEM certification exam to the changes made in 2014, we have focused on creating programs that recognize and honor physicians that fully understand the complexity of electrodiagnostic testing.”

Since its founding in 1987 by the AANEM, ABEM has ensured physicians and technologists are providing quality patient care and that physicians stay up to date on the latest techniques and findings.

“ABEM was originally formed out of AAEM (now AANEM),” said Shirlyn Adkins, ABEM Executive Director. “Electrodiagnostic medicine was a relatively new field, and the AAEM wanted to provide physicians a way to demonstrate their qualifications in this area. The ABEM founding members saw the need to formally certify physicians that were already using best practices and setting high standards in patient care.” 

Austin Sumner, MD, the first Chairperson of the ABEM Board, is proud to see that the ABEM Board has reached this important milestone as he remembers the challenges that came along with the exploration process of creating the Board. 

“As history shows, we were able to successfully negotiate the problems of establishing a highly creditable certification process, and thereby, to improve standards of EMG practice nationwide while strengthening our association,” he said.

The highlights of ABEM’s 30 years include the development of the ABEM Exam (1989), the Maintenance of Certification Program (MOCP) (1994), MOCP Exam (2003) and Certified Nerve Conduction Technologies (CNCT) Exam (2011).     

The current Board of Directors is comprised of: John England, MD (chair); Michael T. Andary, MD (vice chairman); Francis O. Walker, MD (secretary); Christina M. Marciniak, MD (treasurer), Timothy R. Dillingham, MD; Peter A. Grant, MD; Kathleen Kennelly, MD and Janice Massey, MD.

The founding Board of Directors included: Dr. Austin J. Sumner (Chair), Dr. Jasper R. Daube, Dr. Andrew A. Eisen, Dr. Ernest W. Johnson, Dr. George H. Koepke, Dr. Ian C. MacLean, Dr. John L. Melvin, Dr. Jack H. Petajan and Dr. John H. Mitchell.

For more on ABEM’s history, visit: http://www.abemexam.org/About/History.

About The American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine

The American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM) is an independent credentialing body in electrodiagnostic (EDX) medicine with more than 3,500 ABEM Diplomates. The goal of the ABEM is to promote high quality patient care. To achieve this goal the ABEM oversees a certification process that requires both physicians and technologists to obtain specific training in the electrodiagnostic evaluation of disorders of the neuromuscular system and then to demonstrate their competency by passing respective comprehensive examinations. For more information, visit: abemexam.org/.

About American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM)

Based in Rochester, Minnesota, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) is the premier nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of neuromuscular (NM), musculoskeletal and electrodiagnostic (EDX) medicine. The organization and its members work to improve the quality of patient care and advance the science of NM diseases and EDX medicine by serving physicians and allied health professionals who care for those with muscle and nerve disorders.

For more information about AANEM, visit aanem.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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