<p>Op,
MD here. I haven’t read all of the posts.
The answer is #3 primarily, then #1 secondarily.
That being said, I have not gotten around to hanging my diplomas on my office walls. I have wondered if my patients come in and think that it is odd that I don’t have them up.</p>
<p>I think I should finally get my PhD framed and up. I think what says the most about me is the 14 years I worked in a training hospital(s) in Boston. I have certificates for each year, but they would look boring.</p>
<p>Most people look at the website.</p>
<p>Yesterday, I was in the waiting room of an ambulatory surgery center. I was there to drive the loopy patient home after they woke up from anesthesia. :)</p>
<p>A patient who was waiting was looking very anxious, or perhaps something was physically wrong with her. She started saying, “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh God. I don’t think I can do this.” Her husband was responding softly to her, trying to soothe her. Because I occasionally work at this facility as a sub, I leaned over to the pair and said “Hi, I don’t mean to intrude, but I am a nurse and I work here. Is there anything we can do for you?” The husband said “Thank you, but she’s just anxious. They told her not to take her medications this morning, so she is just feeling a little off.” I offered to escort them to a private waiting room we have for this very purpose in order to get her away from the VERY busy and loud waiting room, but they politely declined. They asked me to find out how much longer they had to wait, so once I had found out that she was next to be called back, they both seemed to relax a little.</p>
<p>The patient asked me, “Do you know my doctor?” I responded, “Oh yes, I’ve worked with him for years, all the way back to when I started nursing at the ICU.” She said, “Where did he go to medical school? I think it was to some off shore quack shack!” I was really shocked. I said, “Hmm, now I know his wife is a UNC-CH alum, so I’m thinking it was in that area of the country.” I pulled out my phone and went to our web site and looked the doctor up. Yup, just as I thought.</p>
<p>“Ma’am, he went to Duke Medical School.” The patient said, “Oh.” “Well, ok.” </p>
<p>Patients do want to know that their docs were trained at an “acceptable” medical school. Now, their perception of what is acceptable doesn’t always line up with reality, but it is what it is.</p>
<p>I have tended to look for a physician who is a Fellow of the American College of (Specialty Group), as opposed to being particularly concerned about training locale. E.g., in obstetrics, FACOG/FACOS. Maybe PG can say if this matters.</p>
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</p>
<p>Ha!</p>
<p>Of course, some North Carolinians (of the Carolina blue persuasion) would consider Duke to be another kind of “quack shack,” but that’s another thread. </p>
<p>“I have tended to look for a physician who is a Fellow of the American College of (Specialty Group), as opposed to being particularly concerned about training locale. E.g., in obstetrics, FACOG/FACOS. Maybe PG can say if this matters.”</p>
<p>Being a member of ACOG (or whatever specialty board) is nice but not necessary; it does allow the person access to the most up to date materials in the field, but whether or not that person reads them and keeps up is another story. For my money, what matters most would be a) board certification in the given specialty and b) some sort of affiliation or involvement with a teaching hospital and / or residency program. And I would not want to go to someone who didn’t attend med school in the US.</p>
<p>^^^^My D is a UNC-CH alum, so I admit I kind of had to choke on it when I told the patient her doc was a DOOK.</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>Agree with Pizzagirl. Just a small personal anecdote. When I injured my knee, I wanted to see a doctor who would be mindful of my running needs, so I chose a clinic affiliated with the big research U with doctors who dealt with athletes. The ortho understood me without a word that quitting running would not be an option for me, and had spent a great deal of time explaining my options and potential outcomes. Her advice was proceless. She retired from seing patients, but will be very actively involved with the med school admissions. A coworker with a similar problem went to see an ortho surgeon affiliated with a private clinic, and “surgery followed by quitting running” were the first words that flew off that doc’s tongue (no surgery was actually needed - it was a “runners’ knee” issue).</p>
<p>PG, would I be right in supposing that a physician could not be a Fellow of the American College of [Insert Specialty Group here], if he/she were not Board-Certified? Or are these independent? </p>
<p>Also, I have a physician friend who seemed to still be taking board exams into his forties. I know that he did outstandingly well on them, so I am not sure what is up with that? Is board-certification renewed every so many years? Is there some point where no re-certification is needed?</p>
<p>QM - they are completely independent from one another. Within OB-GYN, ACOG is a trade union of sorts. ABOG is the national certifying board. I assume it works that way for other specialties, but I don’t know.<br>
H gets re - board certified every couple of years but has to do continuing education every year else he can’t qualify for re-cert; again each specialty board sets its own rules. </p>
<p>Yes, physicians need re-certification over their working lives. Some boards are every 7 years and some 10 years.
Many organizations require board re-certification as a condition of employment.
Here is an article on WSJ today.
<a href=“Doctors Upset Over Skill Reviews - WSJ”>http://online.wsj.com/articles/doctors-upset-over-skill-reviews-1405985224</a></p>
<p>The comments are quite interesting.</p>
<p>So, another question: Is there a difference between being a fellow of something like ACOG, and being a member? My points of reference come from the American Physical Society and the American Chemical Society. Both have Fellows, by nomination and selection. The number of Fellows is restricted to a relatively small fraction of the membership in each section of the societies.</p>
<p>I think a fellow in ACOG is someone who has passed the OB-GYN boards,both part1 and part 2. No need for nomination, just submission of application. Junior fellows are those who are in OB-GYN residencies.</p>
<p>“Yes, physicians need re-certification over their working lives. Some boards are every 7 years and some 10 years.”</p>
<p>Not always. For some specialties, if you were certified before a certain year, you don’t have to recertify. Something like 1992 for Adult, and for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. For the latter, you have to be certified in the former. I learned I had passed the the written and oral parts for adult, just in time to register for the written, than oral parts for AACAP ( to be board certified, and a “diplomate” I think, of the “Child Academy”), just slipping under the wire for lifetime certification ("grandfathering) for both. Whew! Not many certifications require “oral” boards. Yes, maybe that is a mixed blessing, but hopefully most choose to stay on top of what is important in their practice. I think of it as at least four parts, since there are two parts just to get the MD! BTW, you can complete a residency and fellowship, and be “board eli\ible”, but not be “board certified”, unless you pass the additional exam(s). Husband has to re-up every seven years, although there is wiggle room if you do certain requirements. We both still have a requirement for CME to renew a license to practice in California every two years. </p>
<p>There is some controversy within the medical community about credentialling requirements because of the amount of money involved, for what not everyone thinks is proven benefit. </p>
<p>BTW, I have not “found time” to hang my credentials, although I have been in one of my offices for fourteen years. I like to think it’s because I have almost always worked in multiple settinfs. </p>
<p>QM -Being a fellow in something like ACOG isn’t evidence of status or prominence in the field, just
membership. It sounds like in the societies you refer to, being a fellow is big deal and indicates some special expertise, credentials, and recognition by others – not true here. Very interesting! </p>
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</p>
<p>Why? Are doctors who did med school abroad all inferior in terms of training and medical proficiency vis a vis a doc who graduated from a US Med school? </p>
<p>What if the doc who did his med school abroad did it at institutions like Cambridge U in the UK<em>, UToronto, National Taiwan U Med, Keio U Med school, or University College, Dublin</em>?</p>
<ul>
<li>Knew some Americans who did med school abroad at those institutions so they could practice medicine slightly sooner and so they have some flexibility in being able to practice here in the US and in the EU.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>No, cobrat. I was thinking of the med schools in the Caribbean, that’s all. I should have been clearer.</p>
<p>And of course you personally know people who did med school at these places. I wouldn’t expect anything less. Is there any situation that could be posed where you don’t personally know someone who has done it?</p>