Abstract
The American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) incorporated as a sub-board of the American Board of Surgery, held its first written examination in 1938, and certified 9 diplomates by examination in 1939. In 1941, the ABA became a primary board. Its first written essay-style examination tested anatomy, pathology, pharmacology, physics and chemistry, and physiology. The unstructured oral examination aimed to test a candidate’s clinical proficiency. A practical examination, held at the candidate’s hospital, was used for 15 years’until growth in the candidate pool made it impractical. As a substitute, in 1975, the ABA required that a faculty clinical competence committee prepare an annual Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) for each resident in training.
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Acknowledgments
I thank the current directors of the American Board of Anesthesiology who gave me complete access to all of the minutes of that organization. Thanks also to Mary Post, the Executive Director of Administrative Affairs for the ABA, and Shirline Fuller, her Executive Assistant, who facilitated that access. I greatly appreciate the support of the late Patrick Sim and Felicia Reilly of the Wood Library Museum. I am also most grateful to the many former directors of the Board who gave me wonderful insights into the history and people described, as well as for critically reviewing this manuscript.
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© 2014 Edmond I Eger, MD
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Slogoff, S. (2014). A History of the American Board of Anesthesiology Certifying Examinations. In: Eger II, E., Saidman, L., Westhorpe, R. (eds) The Wondrous Story of Anesthesia. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8441-7_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8441-7_35
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