American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists

Established in 1939, the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOABOS) is a non-profit umbrella organization for 18 medical specialty boards in the United States. Along with the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), the AOABOS is one of three leading entities that oversees physician board certification in the United States. The AOABOS assists its Member Boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists.

AOABOS is recognized by the key healthcare accreditation organizations as a primary equivalent source of physician board certification data on medical specialists for credentialing purposes.

The concept of a specialty board was first proposed in 1908 by Dr. Derrick T. Vail. In 1916, 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 AOABOS was organized in 1939 as the Advisory Board for Osteopathic Specialists for the certification of osteopathic physicians. The first medical specialty board part of the AOABOS was the American Osteopathic Board of Radiology. 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.