Internal Medicine / Anesthesiology Policy Overview

ABIM and the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) offer dual certification in internal medicine and anesthesiology. A combined residency consists of five years of balanced education in the two disciplines instead of the six years necessary if these two residency programs were completed separately/sequentially.

Combined training includes the components of independent internal medicine and anesthesiology residencies which are accredited respectively by the Residency Review Committee (RRC) for Internal Medicine and by the RRC for Anesthesiology, both of which function under the auspices of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Every program that wishes to offer this combined training must be approved by both ABIM and the ABA before residents are recruited. In addition, both Boards (and RRCs, when applicable) will review these training requirements periodically.

To be eligible for dual certification, the resident must satisfactorily complete 60 months of combined education, which must be verified by the directors of both programs. The final certifying examinations cannot be taken until all five years are completed.