Clinical Informatics emerging as an ABMS-approved medical specialty

Right now, you can get a master's degree in informatics. You can complete a fellowship in informatics. However, there is no established "Clinical Informatics" medical speciality recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). That's about to change.

According to a story on InformationWeek Health Care:

A committee of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) on July 27 recommended that clinical informatics be defined as a subspecialty of the American Board of Preventive Medicine and the American Board of Pathology, the two specialty boards that cosponsored the proposal. The ABMS board of directors and the ABMS assembly are expected to approve the recommendation in late September.

...board-certified physicians... will be eligible to sit for the board exam in clinical informatics... physicians currently working in the clinical informatics field will not have to go through a training program to sit for the board exam... there will be a pathway to board certification that doesn't require training in a certified program if candidates have significant experience in the field...

Medical students are least familiar with these specialties

Medical students are least familiar with these Recognized Physician Specialty and Subspecialty Certificates: (listed on the American Board of Medical Specialties)

American Board of Preventive Medicine
Aerospace Medicine*
Occupational Medicine*
Public Health and General Preventive Medicine*
Medical Toxicology
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

American Board of Medical Genetics
Clinical Biochemical Genetics*
Clinical Cytogenetics*
Clinical Genetics (MD)*
Clinical Molecular Genetics*
Medical Biochemical Genetics2
Molecular Genetic Pathology

American Board of Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear Medicine

American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Neuromuscular Medicine
Pain Medicine
Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
Sports Medicine

Another Physician Compensation Survey

According to the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) 2008 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey, physician pay went up in 2007 by roughly 3.5%. According to this report, medical specialties that experienced the lowest increases included allergy medicine, endocrinology, pulmonary medicine and emergency medicine. With Medicare reimbursement decreasing and managed care organizations trying to push pay-for-performance (P4P) and other initiatives, physician payment is all over the map for various specialties. The survey was conducted among 44,000 health care providers, 2,700 medical groups, and 116 specialties in the United States.