Private practice with Dr Seth Bilazarian

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Board recertification: Do's and don'ts

Jun 26, 2009 09:48 EDT


Studying for board recertification is a challenging and sometimes laborious process for any busy clinician and one that can provoke a spectrum of emotions from paranoia (will I pass?) to anger (what an incredible burden!) to euphoria (it's over!).

What are your strategies for this daunting process? Do you go it alone or use a study partner? Have you used online resources or are you by-the-book? Beyond practicalities, what are your thoughts on the actual process? Is it possible to fine-tune the system to limit the burden for the practitioner?

See:

The American board of internal medicine website with information on the certification process

2008 Interventional Cardiology Overview and Board Preparatory Course

Recertification in Interventional Cardiology. George D. Dangas, MD, FACC, FSCAI*, Jeffrey J. Popma, MD, FACC, FSCAI. J Am Coll Cardiol Intv, 2008; 1:332-334.

 





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Your comments
Board recertification: Do's and don'ts
# 1 of 3
July 10, 2009 07:52 (EDT)
marcsf
Consider not participating in recertfication. I do not believe it is worth the time or cost involved. Since there are really no data that suggest recertification improves any measure of clinical performance, the reasons to participate are few. With Medicare cuts in reimbursement coming along with reimbursement cuts from health care reform, the cost of recertification is becoming more prohibitive. I have written ABIM and asked them on several occasions what the profit margin of the recertification process is, but they refuse to answer. It is not clear to me who benefits more from recertification, the candidate or ABIM.
# 2 of 3
December 30, 2010 04:56 (EST)
casselbuster

The comments of marcsf reflect the feelings of virtually all PRACTICING specialists.  As more physicians deal with the recertification monster, resistance will become more pervasive and organized ( see changeboardrecert.com).   This is all about control of society instigated by a radical elite.  Wonder whose footin' the cost??
# 3 of 3
January 22, 2011 04:59 (EST)
Change Board
Fellow Physicians,
We face an ever increasing nightmare of unnecessary obstacles to practicing medicine, so please check out the Change Board Recertification website at http://www.changeboardrecert.com/ then send the link to all your colleagues so they can comment, vote, donate and spread the word. We all need to get involved in order to make change a reality.
Please contact us at our personal emails below.
Thanks again and please get involved.
Best,
Ron Benbassat MD
and
Martin Dubravec MD

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About Dr Seth Bilazarian
Seth Bilazarian MD has been a Clinical and Interventional Cardiologist at Pentucket Medical Associates in Massachusetts since 1993. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Nuclear Cardiology, Vascular Ultrasound, Interventional Cardiology, and Vascular and Endovascular Medicine.

Dr Bilazarian performs coronary and peripheral interventions at Lahey Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been an investigator in the interventional laboratory for new devices including drug-eluting stents, distal protection devices, imaging devices (OCT and InfraRed), and anticoagulant pharmacotherapy.

Dr Bilazarian is an active participant in clinical trials in congestive heart failure, hypertension, coronary disease prevention, prediabetes management, anemia, atrial fibrillation, and anticoagulation/antiplatelet therapies in the outpatient setting. He has authored numerous papers and book chapters in clinical cardiology. He was appointed as a physician advisor to the circulatory device panel of the FDA in 2008.
About this blog
My intent is to create a forum for dialogue on issues pertinent to private practice cardiology around topics such as:

  • Integration of new data and guidelines on inpatient and outpatient practice in clinical and interventional cardiology
  • Practice approaches to the extra clinical issues in dealing with managed care insurers
  • Strategies for navigating the restrictions of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) on pharmacologic therapies for our patients
  • Experiences with restrictions on testing and imaging
The video blog (VLOG) will provide an opportunity to share broadly different approaches to the common conundrums we face in caring for patients. My hope is that this forum will provide useful data points for practice outside of tertiary and academic centers and a look inside community hospitals and physician?s practice patterns in the office, starting with mine.