FSMB News Release

For Immediate Release
April 26, 2006

DALLAS (April 26, 2006) Timothy J. Kowalski, D.O. FACN, DFAPA, President of the South Carolina Osteopathic Medical Society, and Past President of the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners was elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) on Saturday.

The FSMB is a national organization dedicated to supporting state medical boards as they work to protect the public. The FSMB continuously seeks to improve the quality, safety and integrity of health care through the development and promotion of high standards for physician licensure and practice. With its partner the National Board of Medical Examiners, the FSMB administers the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), the world's premier medical licensing examination for allopathic physicians. It also maintains the nation's largest repository of state medical board disciplinary actions, with more than 156,000 disciplinary actions against 46,000 physicians dating to the 1960s.

Dr. Kowalski's involvement with the FSMB began a decade ago when he was appointed to the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners where he has also served as chair of the Advisory Committee to the South Carolina Recovering Professionals Program. His involvement grew into committee memberships, such as the Nominating Committee and the FSMB Bylaws Committee; as well being elected to serve as President of the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners.

Nationally, in addition to serving as the Vice-Chair of the American Osteopathic Association's Bureau of State Government Affairs, Dr. Kowalski has been active within the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME). The NBOME administers the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA), the only medical licensing examination accepted for licensing osteopathic physicians in all 50 states. Dr. Kowalski has contributed to the writing of national organizational policy on expanded scope of practice of non-physician clinicians, the expert witness and South Carolina's proposed Medical Practice Act.

Following graduation from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Kowalski's career began in the United States Army, where he trained in psychiatry and child psychiatry. After military service, Dr. Kowalski moved to South Carolina where he took employment with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. A Past President and Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists, Dr. Kowalski is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. In Columbia Dr. Kowalski is Director of the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute Clinics where he coordinates psychiatry clerkships for medical students and focuses on care to children with developmental disabilities. Dr. Kowalski has faculty appointments with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine and the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc., is a national organization comprised of the 70 medical boards of the United States and its territories. The Federation, acting on behalf of its membership, is the leader in the field of medical regulation and a partner in public protection. Our mission is to continually improve the quality, safety and integrity of health care in the United States through the development and promotion of high standards for physician licensure and practice. For more information, visit our Web site: www.fsmb.org.