Cincinnati – August 23, 2019 – Alliance Integrative Medicine (AIM) announced that Dr. Teresa Esterle and Dr. Kathryn Peeden have successfully completed all of the requirements for certification in integrative medicine through the American Board of Integrative Medicine® (ABOIM®). Esterle and Peeden join a select few physicians who have achieved board certification in this area of medicine.
Both Esterle and Peeden completed their fellowship training through AIM’s Integrative Medicine Physicians of Excellence program (IMPOE), which is one of only 14 accredited integrative medicine training programs in the United States. IMPOE trains physician leaders of excellence and prepares them to take the ABOIM® examination for certification in integrative medicine. The program includes a one- to two-year clinical curriculum designed to train physicians in various integrative medicine modalities and optimize clinical skills, followed by a three-year observational training period.
Board certification from the American Board of Integrative Medicine enables successful candidates to present themselves to the public as qualified medical specialists in the practice of integrative medicine. And completing the integrative medicine board certification indicates mastery of the specialty, in both experience and knowledge, as well as a professional commitment to adhere to the ABPS Medical Code of Ethics.
“We are proud to have one of the leading integrative medicine centers in the country right here in Cincinnati,” commented Dr. Steve Amoils, AIM’s medical director who oversees the IMPOE program. He added, “Drs. Esterle and Peeden are now probably the best trained integrative medicine physicians in the country. Not only are they board certified in integrative medicine, but also in medical acupuncture. And they both have advanced training in functional medicine and strong clinical backgrounds in all these areas as well as conventional medicine.” He added, Dr. Esterle is board certified in pediatrics and Dr. Peeden in family medicine. I’m not aware of any other physicians who have been able to achieve this.”
About the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS)
ABPS the official certifying body of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc. and the third largest nationally recognized multi-specialty certifying organization in the United States and certifies physicians in a myriad of specialties and types of practices. The ABPS Member Boards offer certification and recertification in the following medical specialty areas: Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Diagnostic Radiology, Disaster Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Family Medicine Obstetrics, Integrative Medicine, Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, and Urgent Care. Recertification is also offered in Geriatric Medicine, Hospital Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, and Surgery.
The ABOIM and other ABPS Member Boards maintain requirements which assure the public that physicians obtaining certification have met high standards of knowledge and expertise in their specialty. These elements include:
- Graduation from a duly accredited medical school. Diplomates hold active and unencumbered licenses in good standing through the licensing process of an individual state which adheres to policies of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB).
- An accredited medical residency training program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) that includes substantial and identifiable training in an appropriate area for the specialty being recognized as determined by the ABPS.
- Recertification every 8 years in which applicants demonstrate competency in their specialty by maintaining skills and staying knowledgeable of the latest procedures and developments in the specialty. Recertification requires passage of a written examination.
- Documented, valid, reliable, and psychometrically sound written examinations consistent with testing standards of the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association. Content and scoring of the written examinations, oral examinations, and on-site reviews are directly linked to the physician practice analysis for each specialty. A comprehensive report of the Practice Analysis Studies documents the processes used to identify the skills and knowledge needed in the practice of each specialty and to validate their criticality and importance.
- Verification of physician credentials for certification by inquiry to both the FSMB Credentials Verification Service and the American Medical Association’s Physicians Profiling Service. Queries are always carried out on every physician for the initial certification and each subsequent recertification. For more information on the American Board of Integrative Medicine and other Member Boards of Certification, please visit www.abpsus.org.
