Call for Sessions and Posters

Abstracts for sessions and posters must be submitted by March 9 at 11:59 pm (ET).

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) invites you to submit an education session (abstract) or poster abstract for live presentation at ABMS Conference 2025.

The ABMS Conference Call for Sessions and Posters is an excellent opportunity to share innovative collaborations, evidence-based research, and best practices that accelerate the transformation of certification and the delivery of high-quality patient care.

The ABMS Conference is the premier health care conference on board certification with a focus on assessment, lifelong learning, improvement, and professionalism. It will be held in-person from September 17 to 19 at The Westin Pittsburgh.

TARGET AUDIENCES

ABMS Conference 2025 attracts a diverse community of more than 400 health care professionals, such as:

  • ABMS Member Boards

  • ABMS Associate Members

  • ABMS Portfolio Program Sponsors

  • Medical Specialty Societies

  • Health System Science Researchers

  • Graduate Medical Education Leaders

  • Interdisciplinary Health Care Professionals

  • Professionals interested in assessment and evaluation, data sharing and informatics, health policy, health professions education, professional regulation, quality improvement, and patient safety

Submit abstract submissions that align with one or more of the abms conference Priorities:

Demonstrates research advancements and innovations in initial and continuing certification* programs

  • Data-driven strategies to support trainee and diplomate engagement, performance, and patient outcomes through certification programs

  • Validity in assessment development, measurement, and outcomes

  • Member Boards' commitment to continuous quality improvement of initial and continuing certification programs

    • Outcomes and improvements to Initial Certification Pathways

    • Outcomes and advancements to continuing certification programs (Longitudinal Assessment Platforms (LAP's), Improving Health and Health Care collaborations (IHHC), etc.)

    • Aligns innovations with 'applicable interventions' for certification programs

  • Research and data collaborations to inform the future of assessment and certification program requirements

*Continuing certification is also known as Maintenance of Certification or MOC

Identifies standards for assessing and promoting professionalism through certification programs

  • Formative professionalism assessments through peer-review, 360-feedback strategies, personal reflection, or other modalities

  • Supports trainees' and diplomates' ability to remediate identified deficits (professionalism or performance) within a certification cycle

  • Identifies new behaviors and skills for Member Boards to assess professionalism: 

    • Care coordination

    • Communication 

    • Team-based care

    • Patient and Family Experience of Care

Demonstrates the impact of certification on health equity, patient safety priorities** and physician well-being

  • Demonstrates collaborative solutions to improving physician well-being

  • Demonstrates equity in certification assessments and transparency in assessment outcomes

  • Identifies ‘best practices’ for mitigating bias and health care disparities through specialty certification assessments and programs

  • Integrates national quality priorities within the certification framework

**Patient safety priorities as defined by AHRQ Quality Indicators. 

Accelerates the adoption of competency-based education (CBE) and assessments (GME; initial and continuing certification), especially in the clinical education or practice environment

  • Demonstrates the impact of localized assessments on national certification programs and outcomes

  • Identifies best practices to support the progression of the CBE framework in certification practices through research collaborations, simulations, administration, data exchanges, etc. 

  • Advances research to support the integration of CBE and workplace-based assessments to inform clinical judgment, reasoning, skills, and performance

  • Aligns innovations in CBE with 'applicable interventions' for GME and Board Certification Programs

Demonstrates collaborative strategies, especially with professional societies, health care systems, federal agencies, and CME providers, to develop lifelong learning and quality improvement interventions within and across specialties to improve health and health care (IHHC)

  • Demonstrates partnerships among Member Boards, federal agencies, and professional societies for IHHC initiatives

  • Advances partnerships with patients and families to employ systematic efforts to improve the quality, safety, and value of health care through partnerships with patients, families, and communities

  • Optimizes the use of clinical data registries to develop measures and improve performance within and across specialties

  • Addresses quality, safety, and emerging specialty advancements through certification programs

  • Demonstrates how to engage physicians' intrinsic motivation to deliver high-value care such as through the ABMS Portfolio Program Sponsors

Demonstrates the rising impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on certification programs and health care delivery systems

  • Optimizes learning and improvement through AI

  • Examines the impact of AI (threats and opportunities) on the development, administration, and implementation of initial and continuous certification assessments and programs

  • Evaluates the impact and safety of large language models (LLM)

    • Supports research to demonstrate the impact of AI on clinical reasoning, diagnostic accuracy, patient engagement, and outcomes

    • Demonstrates the capacity of AI to impact patient engagement and clinical decision-making

  • Demonstrates use cases for large language models to improve physician well-being, e.g., use of AI Colleagues (AI scribes, patient messaging, literacy-based responses, clinical decision-making tools, etc.)

  • Research on the appropriate use of AI that leads to developing effective regulatory and compliance guidelines in health care delivery and across the health care education continuum

Emerging topics for the certification community

Abstracts for sessions and posters must be submitted by March 9 at 11:59 pm (ET). Acceptance notifications will be sent via email no later than May 9.

To begin your application, log in to the Abstract Scorecard.