On the 20th Anniversary of the National Board of Public Health Examiners: It Is Long Past Time We Became a Profession.

The authors discuss the need to support certification for public health examiners to fully affirm their status as professionals. They describe developments since the call of Al Sommer and Mohammed Akter for public health to become a profession in 2000, including the creation of the National Board of Public Health Examiners and the Certified in Public Health examination. They also explain the pros and cons of public health's disciplinary diversity and the benefits of earning certification.