Boards seek to maintain relevance by expanding into clinical assessment.
But some say they're in over their heads and responding only to competitive threats. By Linda O. Prager , AMNews staff. June 7, 1999. Physicians who have proudly hung their specialty board certificates planning not to give them another thought for at least seven years should think again. The American Board of Medical Specialties is formulating a plan for boards to continually scrutinize their diplomates and assess their actual performance rather than just test their knowledge base.