It’s confusing because the term ‘board certified’ is used by many self designated boards. There are organizations out there that offer certificates in various areas of medicine, and they create their own certifying agency that does not report to any central organization. When talking about board certification, people need to find out if it’s a legitimate board, and if it has a testing process that is recognized and acknowledged as a valid method for determining qualifications. There are over a hundred self-created boards that are not part of ABMS but provide some type of certification.
