Visiting Scholars

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Visiting Scholars Program™ supports the research of early-career physicians and research professionals while encouraging them to be active contributors within the ABMS community.

The American Board of Ophthalmology co-sponsors at least one scholar position annually. In 2022, Divya Srikumaran, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Vice Chair of Education at Johns Hopkins University, was selected as the inaugural ABO-ABMS Visiting Scholar and studied gender differences in ophthalmology and the ACGME milestones. Matthew R. Starr, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, and Fasika Woreta, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, have been selected for 2023. Applications will open again in early 2024.

The ABO, with the goal of promoting the improvement of patient care, supports research that:

• Evaluates the effectiveness of its programs and activities;
• Examines the relationships between certification and physician education, clinical practice, and career-long improvement;
• Contributes meaningfully to the literature about physician competence; and
• Promotes psychometric equity, excellence, and fairness.

In general, ABMS is accepting applications for projects supporting these current research priorities:

• Diagnostic excellence within and across specialties
• Competency-based medical education and assessments across the medical education continuum
• Racial equity and diversity across the health care continuum
• Physician engagement in quality improvement and patient safety

Launched in 2014, the one-year, part-time ABMS Visiting Scholars Program supports early-career physicians and researchers in scholarship and leadership development focusing on physician assessment in initial and continuing board certification. Visiting Scholars are selected based on the quality of their proposed research project, the relevance of their research to the ABMS mission and the certification community, and the likelihood of making substantial progress on the project during the scholar year. Focused areas of interest for the certification community include diagnostic accuracy, competency-based medical education and assessment, equity and diversity in health care and QI.