Dr. Benson S. Munger

From 1976 to 1979, Dr. Munger was the Director of Education and Deputy Executive Director of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). He was responsible for administration of the program that led to the acceptance by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) of Emergency Medicine as the 23rd specialty in medicine. During that same period he was also responsible for the developing the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), developing the certification examination and process for ABEM and for developing and administering the voluntary accreditation system for residencies in Emergency Medicine.

In 1979 Dr. Munger became the founding Executive Director of the American Board of Emergency Medicine and held that position for 20 years until his retirement in 1999.

During that period he was involved in the development of several subspecialties in Emergency Medicine including Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology and Sports Medicine. Each of these subspecialties involved other ABMS boards and required the development of mutually agreeable standards and evaluation methods and all were subject to the approval of the ABMS and the acceptance of training standards by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Dr. Munger was an ex officio member of the Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medicine (RRC-EM) for 20 years and was actively involved in the accreditation process and its development.

Dr. Munger has served as a consultant to many groups seeking to develop new and emerging medical specialties. These have included the American Board of Pain Medicine, the American Board of Vascular Surgery, the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and several subspecialties in Neurology. He is the primary consultant on a major project by the primary specialty organizations in Neurology intended to develop a high quality accreditation and certification system for emerging subspecialties in Neurology.

While at the University of Arizona’s Emergency Medicine Research Center (AEMRC) Dr. Munger has continued to provide consulting services to new specialties and subspecialties.

Dr. Munger’s primary responsibility at the AEMRC is the development of the Department of Emergency Medicine’s research program. In this he is involved in administrative and developmental requirements including the development of an enhanced research curriculum for residents and faculty, development of a departmental research agenda and the acquisition of additional research opportunities and funding for residents and faculty.

Mediation and arbitration
Development of multi-group development projects
Project management
Accreditation in the medical professions
Certification in the medical professions
Medical specialty development