International survey of training and certification in physical medicine and rehabilitation

Certification processes and models to measure professional competence (recertification) among physiatrists are issues facing medical specialty boards in most countries where boards accredit specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation. In the interest of discussing certification and recertification standards generally - with an eye on learning from the systems established across the globe - the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR) convened a meeting on November 13, 1999, in Washington, DC. The meeting was chaired by Joel DeLisa with Murray Brandstater, Jay Subbarao, and Nic Walsh serving as the organizing committee. The meeting focused specifically on (1) how the training procedures and (re)certification processes in rehabilitation medicine in different countries could lead to better practices and (2) how the community of rehabilitation medicine could collaborate more fully. The collection of articles appearing here derive from presentations given at the ABPMR meeting and offer insights from the United States, Great Britain and Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Israel, and Canada. It begins with a discussion of a 1999 international survey of all countries with established programs in physical medicine and rehabilitation. On behalf of the meeting organizers, I would like to thank all participants for their time and commitment to this project. Nicolas E. Walsh. (C) 2000 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.