Overview
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) offer triple certification in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and critical care medicine. A combined residency consists of six years (72 months) of integrated education in the three disciplines.
Beginning in 2025, programs offering combined training must become ACGME-accredited in the combined specialties to fulfill ABIM’s training requirements for certification. Single accreditation in these specialties by the institution will no longer meet ABIM’s combined eligibility requirements. Residents must satisfactorily complete the total duration of combined education, which must be verified by the program director of each program. Candidates are eligible for the certifying examination once all years of accredited training are satisfactorily completed.
Combined training is designed to create a cohesive experience with inclusive experiences in each specialty during the entire training program. Continuity clinic would be a thread throughout the internal medicine portion of training. ABIM does not require that continuity clinic occurs during rotations when the resident is assigned to the other, non-medicine, specialty or other rotations where continuity clinic is not possible. (e.g. ICU). Continuity clinic should however be a part of the entire training portion credited to Internal Medicine Board Eligibility.
Curriculum
Curricular and educational experiences required for accredited, combined programs can be found on ACGME’s website.
Training Programs
A list of accredited combined training programs can also be found on ACGME’s website.
ABIM Specific Policies
Program directors of combined training programs should be aware of several ABIM specific policies that trainees must meet to become eligible for ABIM certification, in addition to the discipline-specific eligibility requirements.
