Paul J. Camarata, Neurosurgery chair, elected to ABNS board of directors
Camarata joins American Board of Neurological Surgery board of directors
Paul J. Camarata, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center, was recently elected a director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery.
He is the first representative from KU Medical Center elected to the 15-member ABNS board since the late Charles E. Brackett, M.D., chief of neurosurgery for 23 years, served from 1976 to 1982.
Camarata will begin a six-year term July 1.
"It's really an honor, I'm excited to have been asked to do this," he said. "It's a herculean task, but a labor of love and something I will enjoy."
The ABNS credentials all U.S.-trained neurosurgery residents. The organization administers oral exams, develops the written examination taken by all residents, reviews competency questions related to board-certified practitioners and maintains the certification of all neurosurgeons.
Camarata's specific responsibilities will include writing primary in-service examination questions, conducting oral examinations of candidates twice a year and helping to develop continuing certification requirements.
The chair of the neurosurgery department at KU Medical Center since 2010, Camarata brings a wide range of experience to the ABNS board. He spent 14 years in private practice before beginning his academic career as an assistant professor teaching at the University of Minnesota. He also has worked in groups as small as two neurosurgeons and as large as a dozen.
Additionally, over the past 15 years, he has volunteered as a guest examiner for ABNS oral exams and helped write questions for the written test.
"I want to participate and volunteer my services in whatever way I can," Camarata said. "I'm happy to be part of helping maintain neurosurgical excellence across the country."
Candidates for the ABNS board are nominated from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Society of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Academy of Neurological Surgery and the Neurosurgical Society of America.