The American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (formerly the AMDA Certified Medical Director Program) was developed by the American Medical Directors Association (now AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine) in 1991, after three years of research and development using surveys, consensus conferences, and experts to define the core skills and knowledge necessary for effective medical direction. The ABPLM currently offers a certification program for medical directors in post-acute and long-term care medicine (ABPLM CMD) and is exploring development of a credential for attending physicians in post-acute and long-term care settings.