National Board of Medical Examiners

The National Board of Medical Examiners, founded in 1915, includes in its membership representatives from the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Hospital Association, the Armed Services, and the Veterans Administration. Members at large are elected from among leaders in medicine throughout the United States. The purpose of this examining agency is to prepare and administer qualifying examinations of such high quality that legal agencies governing the practice of medicine within each state may, at their discretion, grant successful candidates a license without further examination; to consult and cooperate with the examining boards of the states; to consult and cooperate with medical schools and other organizations or institutions concerned with maintaining the advancing quality of medical education; and to study and develop methods of testing and evaluating medical knowledge and competence. The National Board is not a licensing body. It is the function of the individual states to determine who shall practice within their borders and to maintain high standards of medical practice in accordance with their own rules and regulations.