Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery is now an official subspecialty of both obstetrics and gynecology and urology.
The American Board of Medical Specialties in March announced that it has granted subspecialty status to this growing area of urogynecology. The new subspecialty will be jointly boarded through the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) and the American Board of Urology (ABU).
Leaders in urogynecology have been laying the groundwork for this recognition for the last 15 years, said Dr. Dee E. Fenner, director of the ABU and ABOG Subspecialty Board for Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery and director of benign gynecology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Officials at the ABU and the ABOG began by developing program requirements and criteria to begin accrediting fellowship programs in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. Today, there are 43 fellowship programs that have been accredited by these bodies, Dr. Fenner said in an interview. That robust level of training, plus the needs of the aging population are both reasons to proceed with subspecialty recognition.
In addition to the recognition of the subspecialty by ABMS, the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) will now take over accreditation for fellowship programs in the specialty.
The ABOG and ABU are currently preparing for both a written and oral exam for the new subspecialty, and the first exams are likely to take place in 2013, Dr. Fenner said. Physicians who are currently working in the field will be able to apply for "grandfather" status for the next few years. However, residents graduating this year must complete a fellowship in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery in order to be eligible to sit for the exam. Dr. Fenner said she anticipates that about 750 physicians, both gynecologists and urologists, who are currently practicing will seek certification in the new subspecialty.
"We need a lot of people because the demands are great for this subspecialty," said Dr. Cheryl Iglesia, a urogynecologist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who serves as the chair of the committee for gynecologic practice at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and sits on the board of directors for the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS).
Dr. Iglesia said there is a growing need to train more physicians who can provide these types of services to the aging baby boomers. Over the next few decades, the demand will jump dramatically, she said in an interview. In addition, there is an increasing level of clinical and basic research going on in the field that requires more physicians with advanced training.
As a result of recognition by both the accrediting and certifying bodies, patients will have the assurance that physicians who are board certified in female pelvic medicine have completed advanced training, Dr. Fenner said. General ob.gyns. also will know what they are getting when they refer complex cases to subspecialists.