The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) suspended parts of its maintenance-of-certification program and apologized ”after many internists and internal medicine subspecialists complained that it was a waste of time and money,” Modern Healthcare reported.

Indeed, some physicians have complained that the program is a money-making scheme for the organization and its  very well-compensated leadership.

The ABIM, along with the other 23 members of the American Board of Medical Specialties, ”recently changed its recertification process from one that requires an exam every 10 years to a process requiring continuous education and self-assessment,” the publican noted.

Dr. Westby Fisher, an internist and cardiologist with the NorthShore University HealthSystem,  in Evanston, Ill., denounced the ABIM in a blog post:

“The American Board of Internal Medicine deployed some chaff in an attempt to ward off a flurry of incoming Exocet missiles aimed squarely at its yearslong history of corrupt and coercive financial dealings, gross mismanagement and entirely unproven Maintenance of Certification program by saying simply, ‘We got it wrong and sincerely apologize,’ ”