Table 1.

Organizations involved with medical accreditation and licensing.

Organization	Function	Consisting of representatives from	Subsidiary organizations
Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)	Review and approval of medical school curricula; accreditation of medical schools	American Medical Association (AMA); Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME)	Development of U.S. medical licensing examination
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)	Development of methods to evaluate and promote the quality of graduate medical education; accreditation of programs in graduate medical education according to established standards	AAMC; AMA; American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS); American Hospital Association (AHA); Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS)	Residency review committees
Residency review committees (RRC): each specialty has a corresponding RRC	Accreditation review of residency training programs; review and revision of specialty requirements	Corresponding specialty board (American Board of Pediatrics and American Academy of Pediatrics for the pediatric RRC); AMA Council on Medical Education
American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)	Assist specialty boards to promote the quality and efficiency of the process of evaluating and certifying physician specialists; act as spokesperson for specialty boards		Specialty boards
Specialty boards	Provide comprehensive exams; certify those who have satisfied requirements
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)	Promote and develop principles, policies, and standards for CME and apply them to the accreditation of institutions and organizations offering CME	ABMS; AHA; AMA; AAMC; CMSS; Association for Hospital Medical Education; Federation of State Medical Boards; nonvoting members: resident physician section of AMA; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; chair of the residency committee council