Joseph McKinley, MD, Gastroenterologist at Florida Hospital Flagler, earned his Gastroenterology Board Certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). Already Board Certified in Internal Medicine, obtaining this additional certification was a very stringent process.

As of March 2009, nearly 12,500 gastroenterologist in practice nationally were gastroenterology board certified by ABIM.

Board Certification status is one tool a patient can use when deciding on a physician. It tells the health care consumer about the training and examinations in the specialty field that a physician has completed.

For more than 70 years, Certification by the ABIM has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 19 subspecialties. Physicians with board certification from the ABIM have demonstrated to both their peers and the public that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care. ABIM is not a membership society, but a non-profit, independent evaluation organization with accountability to the profession of medicine and the public.