title: Recent trends in american board of psychiatry and neurology psychiatric subspecialties.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  this article reviews the current status and recent trends in the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) psychiatric subspecialties and discusses the implications of those trends as well as several key questions whose answers may well determine subspecialty viability.
  
  
  METHODS
  data are presented on specialty and subspecialty programs; graduates; and ABPN certification candidates and diplomates drawn from several sources, including the records of the ABPN, the websites of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Medical Association, and the annual medical education issues of JAMA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  fewer than half of psychiatry graduates pursue subspecialty training. While most recent specialty graduates attempt to become certified by the ABPN, many subspecialists elect not to do so. There have been recent decreases in the number of fellowship programs and trainees in geriatric psychiatry and addiction psychiatry. The pass rates for fellowship graduates are superior to those for the "grandfathers" in all of the newer psychiatric subspecialties. Lower percentages of subspecialists than specialists participate in maintenance of certification, and maintenance of certification pass rates are high.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the initial interest in training and certification in some of the ABPN subspecialties appears to have slowed, and the long-term viability of those subspecialties may well depend on the answers to a number of complicated social, economic, and political questions in the new health care era.
authors.affiliation: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc., Buffalo Grove, IL 60089, USA.
authors.forename: Larry R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.forename: Dorthea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Juul
authors.forename: Naleen N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Beth Ann
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Christopher C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Colenda
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Guynn
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Mrazek
authors.forename: Victor I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Reus
authors.forename: Barbara S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Schneidman
authors.forename: Kailie R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D003625:Data Collection; D004467:Economics; D004493:Education; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D006801:Humans; D009462:Neurology / Q000193:education*; D011057:Politics; D016730:Program Development; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D013038:Specialization / Q000639:trends; D013044:Specialty Boards / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States