Choosing_opt

There’s lots of unrest in medicine right now.

Some of it deals with how doctors maintain their board certifications. Newsweek recently called it “The Ugly Civil War in American Medicine.”

Physicians in America get licensed by their state to practice medicine. This is a legal requirement. And, as you might imagine, lots of stuff goes into getting that license. You first get your education, then you take some tests, then you get more education, then you take more tests, then you get continuing education… And, you get the point.

There’s also something known as physician board certification. It’s really not supposed to have anything to do with the law; yet, admittedly, in recent years, the controlling organizations that hand out these board certifications have gotten some of it written into law. But, that’s another story.

The concept of medical board certification was formally established in the 1920s and 1930s. It originated from “people” seeking to answer the question: how do you know your doctor is competent? 

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