Philadelphia, PA, July 1, 2010 – Keith Randall Young Jr., MD, the Ben Vaughan Branscomb Professor of Medicine in Respiratory Diseases at the University of Alabama (UAB) School of Medicine, has been named Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Subspecialty Board on Pulmonary Disease. As such, he becomes the subspecialty board’s representative to ABIM's Board of Directors. Dr. Young has been a member of the Subspecialty Board on Pulmonary Medicine since 2006. ABIM sets the standards and certifies physicians practicing in internal medicine and its subspecialties who possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to provide high quality care.
The Board of Directors, comprised of physicians who are board certified in internal medicine or one of its subspecialties, guides ABIM's overall mission and direction as it works to improve health care quality. All ABIM Directors participate in ABIM's Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. MOC recognizes that what was standard treatment a decade ago may have changed, and that the public needs a process to know if their physicians have kept up-to-date in their field.
ABIM's Subspecialty Boards are composed of experts in both academic medicine and practice, all of whom must be ABIM certified in their particular subspecialty. Members of these boards apply their individual and collective knowledge toward the development of the policies, standards and requirements for certification and Maintenance of Certification in their subspecialty, with special focus on developing the cognitive exam that physicians must take to certify or maintain their certification in that field. The exam assesses essential diagnostic reasoning skills: evaluating whether a doctor can put together the patient's story and symptoms, make the right diagnosis and provide the right care. Dr. Young is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, allergy and immunology, and critical care medicine.
“Randy is a leader in the field of pulmonary medicine at every level – clinical care, research and teaching. As chair of the Subspecialty Board on Pulmonary Disease, he will bring the insight of his years of experience in each of these arenas to help define the competencies needed for board certification in pulmonology,” said Christine K. Cassel, MD, ABIM's President and CEO.
Dr. Young has served on ABIM's Task Force on Measuring Competency in Internal Medicine Subspecialty Training and its Task Force on Focused Recognition for Hospital-Based Medicine. He has chaired numerous committees within the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Thoracic Society, the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors and at UAB. He is a past-President of the Association of Subspecialty Professors and the American Federation for Medical Research.
Dr. Young, who directed the UAB Division of Pulmonary/Allergy/Critical Care Medicine for 15 years, is the Medical Director of the UAB Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program and of VIVA Health, and the Associate Medical Director of the UAB Lung Transplantation Program. He has repeatedly been honored for his clinical care and teaching. He was named one of the Best Doctors in America seven times, and as one of America's Top Doctors three times.
Dr. Young earned a B.S. in life sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Dr. Young completed his residency and chief residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He then completed a fellowship in pulmonary medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, after which he served as a medical staff fellow and chief medical staff fellow in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
ABIM Board Certified Doctors Make a Difference
Internists and subspecialists who earn and maintain board certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) differentiate themselves every day through their specialized knowledge and commitment to continual learning in service of their patients. Established as an independent nonprofit more than 80 years ago, ABIM continues to be driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. Visit ABIM's blog to learn more and follow ABIM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. ABIM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties.