The American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOABS) is a non-profitumbrella organization for 18 medical specialty boards in the United States. It is one of three leading entities overseeing physician certification in the United States. The AOABS assists its Member Boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists.
The concept of a specialty board was first proposed in 1908 by Dr. Derrick T. Vail. In 1917, ophthalmology became the first officially incorporated board. The second specialty board, the American Board of Otolaryngology, was founded and incorporated in 1924. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1930) and the American Board of Dermatology and Syphilology (1932) followed. The AOABS was organized in 1939 as the Advisory Board for Osteopathic Specialists for the certification of osteopathic physicians. In 1993, the Board of Trustees of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), through its agency, the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists, became the osteopathic certifying body.
