Comments on: Do Board Certifications Really Matter?

By: david

david — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:59:41 +0000

Of course board certification matters. Otherwise how do you know you know enough to take care of your patients? If you have spent enough time in the medical profession, you will easily tell whether a doctor is board certified or not, based on their clinical reasoning and management practices.
There are certain things you never study except for board certification.
How many of you will hire a lawyer who has not passed the bar exams? Will you knowingly allow a pilot who has not passed the prescribed tests to fly you cross country? So why subject yourself to noncertified doctors.
While I must admit that board certification is not the be all, it still matters. Alot.

By: DocD

DocD — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:00:52 +0000

At least in psychiatry, being board certified is not equivalent to a ‘best psychiatrist’. The board exam consists of having memorized brain anatomy, peripheral nerves of the arm and neck, statistics and historical facts about who came up with what theory.
There is little to nothing on the exam about how to talk to a person, or understanding underlying emotional processes, which is what makes a good psychiatrist face to face with a person.
I cannot speak to the value of board certification in other specialties.

By: mamtaifyjailk

mamtaifyjailk — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:11:35 +0000

Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.
I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.
God will appreciate it.

By: EconoMD

EconoMD — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:07:47 +0000

I think board certification is a farce. Any doc who was board certified prior to 1990 doesn’t have to re-cert. As fast as medicine changes, the older docs are precisely the ones that should have to re-certify to prove their familiarly with new protocols, drugs and guidelines. Taking the boards while in private practice is very expensive as you have to stop seeing patients to allow time for studying, board reviews, etc and the fees for the exams can be upwards to $2,000.00. This can be very costly for the physician in solo practice once you factor in the lost income while away at conferences, etc.

A better solution would be similar to what many malpractice companies offer: take a course that provides 5-10 hours of education about how to avoid malpractice. In turn you get a discounted rate on your insurance (similar to taking a defensive driving course). If doctors were required to have X amount of CME a year pertaining to their field of practice you would see a lot less crappy care. Just like the elderly should have their driving skills/vision tested more frequently, so should the older doctors have to keep up with their field of medicine. As long as there are physicians who have been board certified “indefinitely” I do not believe the board certifications mean anything especially when you consider all the board review courses that are out there designed exclusively for passing the obscure questions that are asked on the boards but are never actually encountered in real world medicine.

We all know the reality is that good medical care is often not provided secondary to insurance formularies, financial limitations and, of course, the ego of the physician who is in over their head but unwilling to refer to a specialist.

By: PookieMD

PookieMD — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:25:43 +0000

So not true! Board certification does matter! I am the physician owner of a local locums company ( a company that supplies “fill in” physicians to busy practices) and I will not even consider anyone that is not board certified and has a minimum 3 year experience post residency. Why? Because the practices we work with demand it! Furthermore, the practices we work are very particular about WHICH board certification they want–e.g. Family Practice vs. Internal Medicine. I think you are really off base here; physicians and practices are very invested in providing the best care, and that goes along with being board certified. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions, and PLEASE do not use a television physician as an example!