Tampa, FL – March 30, 2012 marks the 21st anniversary of National Doctor’s Day and will be celebrated by the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) and its governing organization, the American Association of Physician Specialists (AAPS). ABPS and AAPS invite patients to thank their physicians for the care and compassion they provide every day.
Although the first observance of Doctor’s Day was in 1933, it was proclaimed a national day of celebration beginning in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush. “Twenty-one years later, whether at the bedside, in surgery, treating emergency or urgent care patients, delivering babies, reading x-rays or lab tests, board certified physicians are still delivering compassionate care to our communities,” said Louis W. Sullivan, MD, in a special video commemorating the day.
Dr. Sullivan is former US Secretary of Health & Human Services (1989-1993) and one of the founders of the prestigious Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. Currently, he is a Public Member of the AAPS Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board of the National Health Museum in Atlanta.
Doctor’s Day was first observed on March 30, 1933 in Barrow County, Georgia on the 91st anniversary of the first administration of anesthesia by Dr. Crawford W. Long in 1842.
ABPS certifies qualified allopathic and osteopathic physicians in 17 different medical specialties. ABPS board certification demonstrates the physician’s core body of knowledge and commitment to a specific specialty.
