Lee R. Berkowitz, MD, Named Chair of the ABIM's Council

July 01, 2013 (PRLEAP.COM) Health News
Philadelphia, PA, July 1, 2013 – Lee R. Berkowitz, MD, has been named Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) newly established Council, a body created to enhance the ABIM Board of Director's (ABIM Board) focus on the quality of its assessment process. Dr. Berkowitz is the Eunice Bernhard Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair of Education in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Dr. Berkowitz joins 13 other physicians on the ABIM Council.

To keep pace with the rate of change in health care and following the strategic direction as set by the ABIM Board, the Council's primary purpose is to ensure the quality, relevance and effectiveness of ABIM's programs in initial Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC). The Council will work closely with leaders in medicine and across its specialties to define the assessments and products most relevant to practicing physicians.

All ABIM Councilors participate in ABIM's MOC program.

"One of the key principles of the Council is that its members should transcend their discipline and act in the best interests of the House of Medicine and the patients we serve," said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM. "I am confident that under Lee's guiding hand, the ABIM Council will meet its ongoing obligation and ensure that ABIM's programs help define what it means to be a good doctor across internal medicine and offer products to support physicians in achieving that shared personal and professional goal."

Dr. Berkowitz is certified in both internal medicine and hematology and completed Maintenance of Certification in 2009.

"It is a privilege and honor to serve as the chair of the Council, comprised of a group of very talented individuals," said Lee R. Berkowitz, MD. "Our goal is to make certain that the processes of both individual Certification and Maintenance of Certification are of the highest value to our diplomates and their patients."

In addition to his previous service on the ABIM Board of Directors and the ABIM Internal Medicine Test Writing Committee, Dr. Berkowitz is Chair of the Alliance for Academic Medicine's Task Force on Education Redesign of Graduate Medical Education. He has also served as President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine and Chair of the In-Training Examination Test Writing Committee of the American College of Physicians.

Members of the newly-formed Council include:

  • Shalender Bhasin, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, Research Program in Men's Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
  • David H. Ellison, MD, Professor of Medicine, Head, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon.
  • Marianne M. Green, MD, Associate Dean, Medical Education Competency, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Sharon A. Levine, MD, Professor of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
  • William C. Little, MD, Professor, Chair, Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi.
  • Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, Professor, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington Harborview Medical Center, Medical Director, Seattle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center, Seattle, Washington.
  • Paul Martin, MD, Chief, Division of Hepatology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
  • Naomi P. O'Grady, MD, Senior Staff Physician, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Richard M. Stone, MD, Director, Adult Leukemia Program, Harvard Medical School, Professor of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.
  • Joan M. Von Feldt, MD, Associate Chief of Staff, Professor of Medicine, Philadelphia Veterans Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • Jeffrey G. Wiese, MD, Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Michael E. Williams, MD, Byrd S. Leavell Professor of Medicine, Chief, Hematologic Malignancies Section, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia.
  • Keith R. Young, Jr., MD, Chair, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

  • 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 and Twitter.