International Board of Medicine and Surgery
The International Board of Medicine and Surgery (IBMS) is an international professional association, established in 2001 and headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida, that serves as the authority for certifying the credentials and the professionalism of physicians, surgeons, and dentists across all territories and jurisdictions of the world. Mission. The purpose of IBMS is to promote patient safety and professional integrity and to facilitate medical tourism with information that traveling patients need to make informed choices for their healthcare needs. Overview. Professional credentials are generally issued by the authority of governmental entities and by the  authority of specific professional disciplines. The requirements of these authorities vary somewhat from country to country and from group to group. With the advent of medical tourism, prospective patients have encountered some difficulty in identifying homologous credentials across the world's jurisdictions. To address this confusion, the International Board of Medicine and Surgery (IBMS) applies the requirements and procedures used by public health departments in the United States to effect a standardized certification of medical, surgical, and dental professionals worldwide. IBMS respects the procedures controlling professional credentials in each jurisdiction and it confirms that each professional member of IBMS has  received the appropriate credentials. Homologation of those credentials is effected by ensuring that all professional members of IBMS, regardless of jurisdiction, subscribe to the same international standards of medical treatment and code of ethics. IBMS's international standards of medical treatment stipulate that: IBMS's code of ethics stipulates that each professional member shall: Certification with IBMS is voluntary and is graduated into five levels. All levels require that the member acknowledge IBMS's international standards of medical treatment and IBMS's code of ethics. With each higher level, the professional member produces increasingly more credible evidence demonstrating that he  or she can be counted on to adhere to those standards. Advocacy. By means of its graduated certification and its conferences, IBMS encourages its members to pursue continuing education and continual improvement. For the patients of its members, IBMS will act as an impartial intermediary to correct any dissatisfaction with the professional services.