Obesity rates continue to rise in the U.S., increasing the need for doctors who understand the many facets of the disease and related health problems. Now, physicians who want to become specialists in weight management will have the chance to become certified in a specialty all their own as Obesity Medicine Physicians.
A specialist is a physician who is trained and, in some cases, board certified in a specific area of medicine – Family Medicine say, or Obstetrics. Surgeons have the FACS certification. And now, physicians who want to become specialists in weight management will have the chance to become certified in a specialty all their own as Obesity Medicine Physicians.
The certification examination, to be called the Obesity Medicine Physician Certification (OMPC), will be offered by a consortium of the Obesity Society and 10 other professional societies.
The consortium formed a Practice Analysis Task Force to create the program curriculum and set the initial criteria for the exam. The materials were then vetted by a panel of 25 experts in nutrition, exercise, psychology and medicine. An Inter-Societal Steering Committee is currently writing the examination itself, which should be published in 2010.
The establishment of a specialization exam in the field of obesity medicine is good news for weight loss surgery patients and their surgeons. Not only will patients be better able to identify the top practitioners of bariatric medicine in a given area, but surgeons involved in the care of weight loss surgery patients will gain an additional “bonus point” that can give them the edge over other surgeons in their competition for patients.
