Background

The American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology (ABCN) is a subspecialty board that is independent of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Boards belonging to the ABMS are focused primarily on the major clinical specialties, and various independent subspecialty boards have therefore been established in order to develop training standards and assess the educational background, knowledge and skills of those practicing in more specialized fields. These independent boards vary widely in their standards and academic underpinning.

The American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology (ABCN) was founded by the American Electroencephalographic Society in 1950 (now the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society), originally as the American Board of Qualification in Electroencephalography (ABQEEG). The board consists of eight members, each serving a 4-year term that can be renewed once. One member each is appointed by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association. The other five members are elected at large by the board. The appointment of members to the board is ratified by the Council of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (formerly the American Electroencephalographic Society, but the ABCN is a certifying body that is completely independent of that society.

Clinical neurophysiology is a medical subspecialty in which a variety of electrophysiological techniques are used to assess the functional integrity of the nervous system, and its sensory organs or effector structures. The ABCN is concerned especially with the functional evaluation of the central nervous system or CNS, the sensory organs, and their connections to the CNS. The competent clinical neurophysiologist must be able to interpret or obtain a history and any physical findings to a sufficient extent that the clinical problem for which electrophysiologic evaluation is requested can be defined. Electrophysiological tests performed in the clinical neurophysiology laboratory must then be interpreted with the clinical context of the individual case in mind, in order to provide information that is clinically useful for diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic purposes.

Mission Statement

The ABCN exists to enhance the quality of patient care and to encourage cost containment by evaluating the ability of physicians to use appropriately clinical neurophysiological studies to examine the function of the nervous system in patients with neurological, psychiatric, or general medical disorders. This is achieved by offering certification of training experience and knowledge to those involved in clinical neurophysiology. The ABCN thus provides a service to the general public. More specifically, the ABCN:

  1. Defines the basic educational requirements and experience necessary for those practicing in the subspecialty of clinical neurophysiology.
  2. Defines the minimum level of both general and more focused knowledge to be expected of those seeking certification in clinical neurophysiology.
  3. Establishes guidelines of what the experienced clinical neurophysiologist should be expected to know, updating this as needed to keep abreast of appropriate advances in the field.
  4. Develops and administers examinations designed to assess the knowledge and skill of candidates.
  5. Issues certificates to candidates who are successful in these examinations and publishes a list of these diplomates.
  6. Maintains a list of its diplomates and those who passed the examinations but are not qualified as diplomates.