The pilot who flew your plane on your last vacation had to be "certified" by some licensing process. He/she probably had to go to school, write an exam and then prove in a practical examination that he/she was safe and competent. Wow....that is reassuring.
When you were last in hospital the nurse hovering above you also had to go to school and pass an exam to show competence. Do you feel better now?
What about doctors? Your doctor does not have to be Board Certified. In fact, U.S. hospitals DO NOT have a mandatory Board Certification requirement.
The American Board of Medical Specialties has the task of setting the standards of competent ethical care. Doctors have to go to medical school but after graduation residency training from 1 to 5 plus years is required. Even your primary care doctor has to do a residency at an approved training program. After residency, a doctor has to pass exams to be Board Certifieed. For many specialties such as general surgery, the doctor has to write a written exam. The young doctors are given 3 chances at passing the written exam. They may not pass the first or second time. During this 3 year period the doctor is considered Board Eligible. After passing the written exam he/she is given an oral exam to judge competence and to see if the doctor is safe. After this two exam process, the doctor is considered Board Certified. To see if your doctor is Borad Certified, you can click on the Links page and click on the Link to the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Why does the public, health profession and hospitals allow docttors without Board Cerfication to practice? The answers are not simple. They involve economics. The health industry is huge and runs on money. A hospital would lose a lot of income if it enforced a Board Certified Only policy. To make money, hospitals need to invite a lot of doctors on its medical staff. Those doctors bring patients to the hospital for medical care, they operate on those patients there, they send their patients to the hospital for blood tests, x-rays, infusions, chemotherapy, endoscopy, hearing tests and other expensive procedures. If a hospital removed a doctor from its panel, revenues would decrease.
Another reason is that this is America, where everyone, no matter who you are, has the opportunity to make a living...this includes doctors who are not Board Certified. It is probably against the law for an entity such as hospital or Medical Board to exclude a doctor from practicing medicine or performing surgery. Common sense would argue that the patient needs to be protected, but economics rules.
