The Importance of Board Certification

If your car had a unique problem and wasn’t running right, would you take it to a garage that only does oil changes and routine minor repairs, or a certified mechanic who specializes in automotive diagnostics and repairs? It’s more likely that you would opt for an expert mechanic whose qualifications meet the highest established standards. The same holds true for health matters — would you trust the treatment of your serious allergy and asthma issues to just any healthcare provider?

Here we are going to examine the differences between board-certified allergists and general physicians and what those distinctions may mean to your health.

What is a Board-Certified Allergist?

Board certified allergists are specialists who have met the highest level of nationally recognized standards for education and expertise in the field of allergy, asthma and immunology.

All practicing physicians carry medical licensure, which is the minimum requirement to provide medical care. On the other hand, specialty board certification is a voluntary process that goes above and beyond common medical licensure.

The road to board-certification in allergy/immunology is lengthy. Allergists are first trained to become medically licensed. This requires at least seven years of education and training beyond a bachelor’s degree. After completing four years of medical school, the allergist then trains for an additional three to four years of residency in internal medicine, pediatrics, or a combination of both. This is when the doctor typically receives his/her medical licensure.

After that, the allergist then spends an additional two or three years of formal training in an academic fellowship program accredited by the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education), which is solely dedicated to diagnosing and managing allergic disease, asthma and immunodeficiencies. After all this training, the allergist may then take exams to achieve board certification from the American Board of Allergy & Immunology–the benchmark of expertise and professionalism in their field.

Following that many board-certified allergists/immunologists elect to participate in ongoing “maintenance of board certification.”

This formal and lengthy education process is necessary to cultivate the expertise required to provide the highest quality of care for patients with allergies and asthma. By achieving board certification, allergists demonstrate their commitment to excellence and expertise in their field, which translates to state-of-the-art, evidence-based care.

Not All “Allergy Specialists” Are the Same: Is your Allergist Board Certified?

Any medical practitioner can advertise as an “allergist or allergy specialist” without receiving formal allergy training in an ACGME accredited Allergy, Asthma & Immunology fellowship program.

You can be certain that your allergist has achieved the highest benchmark of knowledge dedicated to allergy, asthma and immunology if he/she is board certified by the American Board of Allergy & Immunology.

If you are planning to see a physician for allergy or asthma relief, it’s worthwhile to verify that the physician is a board-certified allergist certified by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.

Because allergies, asthma and immunodeficiencies are the only diseases allergists diagnose and treat, they have the most experience and are best equipped to make recommendations for the succinct allergy, asthma, or immunotherapy treatments for children and adult patients.