CHEST unveils first certification program for advanced practice providers in pulmonary medicine

The American College of Chest Physicians, known widely as CHEST, has announced plans to develop the first education and certification program designed specifically for advanced practice providers working in pulmonary medicine. The initiative, described as the CHEST Pulmonary APP Certification Program, will target nurse practitioners and physician assistants or associates who care for patients with complex respiratory disease. According to the organization, the program follows a comprehensive discovery initiative that examined the professional needs of these clinicians and identified strong demand for standardized pulmonary education, competency validation, and formal professional recognition.

Advanced practice providers have become increasingly central to the delivery of pulmonary care in the United States. As physician workforces face mounting pressure and patient panels grow more complex, practices have turned to nurse practitioners and physician assistants to expand capacity, maintain continuity of care, and manage the long-term needs of patients with chronic and acute respiratory conditions. Yet until now, no national body has offered a pulmonary-specific credential that validates the specialized knowledge these clinicians acquire on the job. The new program aims to fill that gap with a structured educational pathway and a certification process grounded in defined clinical competencies.

Frank Leone, MD, MS, FCCP, a member of the Pulmonary APP Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Penn Medicine, framed the rationale in terms of team confidence and consistency. APPs, he noted, are increasingly important members of pulmonary care teams, helping practices expand capacity and meet the needs of patients with complex respiratory disease. As that role continues to grow, physicians need confidence that the clinicians working alongside them have a strong foundation in pulmonary medicine. A standardized educational pathway paired with a certification process, he argued, can help establish that shared foundation, support more consistent onboarding, and strengthen the entire pulmonary care team.

The evidence base for the program came from an unusually thorough discovery initiative developed independently by CHEST and supported by a contribution from Sanofi and Regeneron, Inc. The organization conducted national surveys of 226 qualified pulmonary advanced practice providers and 116 physicians, complemented by stakeholder interviews, workforce and market analyses, and a consultation with a multidisciplinary steering committee composed of pulmonary APPs and physicians. Across these methods, the findings converged on a single conclusion: strong interest in structured pulmonary education and formal competency validation among both the clinicians who would pursue the credential and the physicians who supervise them.

Corinne Young, MSN, FNP-C, FCCP, also a member of the Pulmonary APP Steering Committee, emphasized the recognition dimension of the credential. The discovery findings, she said, confirm what many pulmonary APPs experience every day: there is a need for a recognized pathway that both strengthens knowledge and validates the benefit these clinicians bring to patient care. In her view, a pulmonary credential provides an opportunity for APPs to demonstrate their specialized knowledge in a meaningful, standardized way, and that recognition matters to the providers themselves, to the physicians and health systems they work alongside, and ultimately to the patients who rely on them.

One of the most significant findings from the research was the degree of variation in how advanced practice providers are prepared to enter pulmonary practice. Unlike physicians, who complete standardized residencies and fellowships, APPs often transition into specialty roles through on-the-job training that varies widely from one institution to the next. Some receive structured mentorship and didactic instruction; others learn largely through clinical exposure. This heterogeneity can create uncertainty for hiring managers, supervising physicians, and patients alike. The certification program is designed to address that variability by establishing a standardized pathway that recognizes the skills of pulmonary APPs while providing practical education to support workforce readiness, team-based care, and high-quality patient care.

Technically, the program will unfold in defined stages. CHEST plans to develop an exam blueprint based on a job task analysis, a methodology widely used in professional credentialing to identify the knowledge, skills, tasks, and judgment actually required for day-to-day practice in a given role. That blueprint will anchor a competency framework, which in turn will inform eligibility requirements, maintenance requirements for recertification, and APP-specific education modules. The organization has committed to engaging pulmonary APPs, physicians, health care organizations, and other stakeholders throughout the development process, a step intended to ensure that the credential reflects real clinical demands rather than abstract curricular assumptions.

The pulmonary initiative builds directly on CHEST’s experience launching the first-ever Critical Care APP Certification, known as CCAPP, in 2025. That credential was designed to validate the clinical knowledge and competence of advanced practice providers practicing in critical care settings. In its first year, more than 300 APPs earned the CCAPP credential, a figure the organization cites as evidence of strong interest in specialty-specific recognition and professional development for this workforce. The rapid uptake suggests that the pulmonary program, once launched, could similarly attract early adopters eager to formalize their expertise in a subspecialty where formal credentials have been scarce.

The implications extend beyond individual career development. Health systems facing persistent shortages of pulmonary specialists have increasingly relied on APPs to staff clinics, manage inpatient services, and support procedural workflows. A validated credential could give institutions a benchmark for hiring, onboarding, and credentialing decisions, while giving payers and patients an additional signal of specialized competence. For physicians, the shared foundation promised by the program could ease collaboration in team-based models of care, where role clarity and mutual confidence are essential to safety and efficiency.

CHEST, the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases, serves more than 18,000 members worldwide who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. For APPs interested in current resources and updates, the organization has launched an APP Professional Hub on its website, and institutions looking to implement system-wide certification programs in critical care or pulmonary medicine can contact the organization directly. As the development process moves forward, the pulmonary certification program will be watched closely as a potential template for how specialty societies formalize the growing role of advanced practice providers across medicine.

Subject of Research: Development of the first education and certification program for advanced practice providers in pulmonary medicine

Article Title: CHEST to launch the first education and certification program for advanced practice providers in pulmonary medicine

Article References: CHEST to launch the first education and certification program for advanced practice providers in pulmonary medicine. (n.d.). Original publication

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Keywords: CHEST, pulmonary medicine, advanced practice providers, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certification, competency validation, critical care, medical education, workforce, health systems, professional recognition