Choosing a medical specialist is one of the most important decisions an individual or family will make. Now one source makes the choice easier - THE OFFICIAL ABMS DIRECTORY OF BOARD CERTIFIED MEDICAL SPECIALISTS 1997. The ONLY reference officially endorsed by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), THE OFFICIAL ABMS DIRECTORY OF BOARD CERTIFIED MEDICAL SPECIALISTS combines two renowned reference works Directory of Medical Specialist & the ABMS Compendium of Certified Medical Specialists - into a single, comprehensive & authoritative resource. Users will find accurate & up-to-date professional & biographical information on board-certified specialists practicing in the U.S., Canada & abroad - more than 465,000 biographies, with more than 20,000 new entries added each year. Each of these specialists has undergone three to seven years of specialized education & residency training & passed rigorous certification examinations administered by ABMS-member boards in these specialties: * Allergy & Immunology * Anesthesiology * Colon & Rectal Surgery * Dermatology * Emergency Medicine * Family Practice * Internal Medicine * Medical Genetics * Neurological Surgery * Nuclear Medicine * Obstetrics & Gynecology * Ophthalmology * Orthopaedic Surgery * Otolaryngology, * Pathology * Pediatrics * Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation * Plastic Surgery * Preventive Medicine * Psychiatry & Neurology * Radiology * Surgery * Thoracic Surgery * Urology. Organized by specialty - & geographically within each specialty - this convenient resource will help: * patients & doctors by acting as a "physician locator service" to identify & verify the credentials of specialists & to provide second opinions, * families who have relocated & need help to find board-certified physicians in their new community, * health industry researchers, marketers, & physician recruiters to identify leading practitioners in specialized fields.