ABIM Elects William C. Little, MD, Chair of its Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease

July 01, 2011 (PRLEAP.COM) Health News
(Philadelphia, PA), William C. Little, MD, Chief of Cardiology, McMichael Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, has been named Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease. As such, he becomes the subspecialty board's representative to ABIM's Board of Directors. Dr. Little has been a member of the Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease since 2005. ABIM sets the standards and certifies physicians practicing in internal medicine and its subspecialties who possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to provide high quality care.

"I am honored to be chosen by my colleagues to serve as the Chair of the ABIM Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease," said Little, "and I look forward to working with them to maintain the high standards for certification."

The ABIM Board of Directors, composed of physicians who are board certified in internal medicine or one of its subspecialties, guides ABIM's overall mission and direction as it works to improve health care quality. All ABIM Directors participate in ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. MOC recognizes that what was standard treatment a decade ago may have changed and that the public needs a process to know if their physicians have kept up-to-date in their field.

ABIM's subspecialty boards are composed of experts in both academic medicine and practice, all of whom must be ABIM certified in their particular subspecialty. Members of these boards apply their individual and collective knowledge toward the development of the policies, standards and requirements for certification and Maintenance of Certification in their subspecialty, with special focus on developing the cognitive exam that physicians must take to certify or maintain their certification in that field. The exam assesses essential diagnostic reasoning skills, evaluating how well a doctor can put together the patient's story and symptoms, make the right diagnosis and provide the appropriate care. Dr. Little is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology.

"Bill is a renowned cardiovascular researcher and clinician, with a clear understanding of the resource management issues facing today's physicians. His cutting edge work examining clinical decisions in the context of finite resources, and developing quality improvement programs for cardiologists, will provide important insight to this Board," said Christine K. Cassel, MD, ABIM's President and CEO.

Dr. Little has published more than 225 peer-reviewed articles of which 27 have been cited more than 100 times. A key research accomplishment was the finding that myocardial infarction (MI) most commonly results from the sudden occlusion of a coronary artery that did not previously contain an obstructive stenosis (Circ 1988).

Dr. Little is a fellow of the American Heart Association's Council on Clinical Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology. In 2010, he was the recipient of the American Heart Association's Laennec Master Clinician Award, and the American Physiological Society's Lamport Award for Cardiac Research. He is past Chair of the National Institutes of Health Cardiovascular Study Section and VA Cardiovascular Merit Review Board.

For media inquiries, contact Lorie Slass at 215-399-4005.

About ABIM
For 75 years, Certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 19 subspecialties and has meant that internists have demonstrated – to their peers and to the public – that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care. ABIM is not a membership society, but a non-profit, independent evaluation organization. Our accountability is both to the profession of medicine and to the public. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. For additional updates, follow ABIM on Facebook.