Should Culturally-Relevant Certifications be added to medical certification boards?

An investigation on expanding medical specialties

Abstract

The study investigates if the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS, 2022) should provide formalized certifications based on patients' race, social, cultural, and/or religious needs.  Just as physicians and medical providers advertise the ability to speak multiple languages, should cultural awareness be formally implemented within the ABMS certifications?  The investigation determines if additional training can allow committees such as the ABMS, Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), and the United States Medical Licensing Examination® to relatively expand examinations and committees based on the current ABMS specialties. These certifications would focus on racial, social, ethnic, and religious (Swihart DL, Yarrarapu SNS, Martin RL, 2021) as "sub" or "other" specialty categorizations to assist with medical biases (Hall, W. J. et al., 2015) and improve trust. If a framework is needed, what current methods provided by the ABMS and FSMB could be expanded to professionally develop and further train for practices based on these specific areas? The data from this investigation would contribute towards specifying how fair and fully assessed instruments can be utilized for medical trends, building relevant certifications, and alerting patients of medical providers that take the extra step to ensure proper care.