Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Residency directors and board certification can work together

Thomas Pane, MD, MBA
Education
March 21, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share

Residency directors have a challenging job.  They are entrusted with selecting young doctors and training them over the course of several years.  Newly graduated medical students are thereby turned into internists, surgeons, radiologists, pathologists and the like.  Fellowship directors build upon this foundation with extra training, setting the stage for these graduates to become clinical experts in their respective fields.


The Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process adds an additional and continued requirement once doctors achieve their initial board certification, but the entire process has come under unified, multispecialty criticism.

Another article critical of the certification process noted that program directors already know plenty about the qualifications of their trainees, and seemed to suggest that program directors’ power to hold back or terminate trainees could reduce the need for the post-residency certification (and recertification) process.

It can be said that the ability to pass tests does not equate with the ability to practice ethical, high-quality medicine.  People who are good at passing tests (i.e. the majority of people who get into medical school) can keep doing it right through board certification.  But is that a good use of time and resources?  Likely not, and this is one reason why MOC has been criticized as little more than a Trojan Horse to maintain certifying board revenue.

However, there is a question whether residency directors can effectively manage their trainees, as they once did.  In past decades, residency directors’ power was near absolute, and many programs (especially surgical fields) ran pyramid structures that only graduated a few of the trainees each year.  Residents knew they were under the microscope every day, and continued progress in the program was not assured.  The old pyramids have been eliminated, although that is not the key problem.  The evidence shows that few residents are ever actually dismissed from training.  Even problem residents – as many who have been in a residency can anecdotally support – are often nudged along and graduated.  This is easier than firing them, which is often a costly and difficult endeavor.

This is not an easy topic to get data on, but the 2009-10 annual report of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) suggests that firings are in fact rare.

Of 111,140 full-time residents, 261 (0.2%) were dismissed.  Even counting the 112 (0.1%) who Unsuccessfully Completed Program (seems an odd word choice), the 96 (0.09%) who went on Leave of Absence, and the 943 (0.8%) who Withdrew, only 1.3% of all residents were somehow taken out of programs every year.  That seems like a small number, and perhaps represents directors’ aversion to taking hard action against sub-par trainees.

Certifying boards may say this is why post-residency evaluation is essential.  But failure in (or noncompliance with) certifying exams cannot keep sub-par physicians from practicing, though it can reduce their options.

The MOC process is imperfect, and stands to be simplified, improved, and made less expensive. Concurrently, the discretion of program directors to remove sub-par trainees should be increased.   They should also be empowered to direct a simplified initial certification process culminating in the final month of residency.

This can ensure that well-qualified people complete residencies with their initial certification, and can later maintain their qualifications with a sensible and cost-effective MOC process.

Thomas Pane is a plastic surgeon.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

How to maintain physician professionalism in social media

March 21, 2012 Kevin 2
…
Next

Mexico needs more pediatricians

March 21, 2012 Kevin 0
…

ADVERTISEMENT

Tagged as: Residency

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How to maintain physician professionalism in social media
Next Post >
Mexico needs more pediatricians

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Thomas Pane, MD, MBA

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Mandating care in the ER but not payment: Why that’s a problem

    Thomas Pane, MD, MBA

More in Education

  • From burnout to balance: a lesson in self-care for future doctors

    Seetha Aribindi
  • Why young doctors in South Korea feel broken before they even begin

    Anonymous
  • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

    Vijay Rajput, MD
  • Why a fourth year will not fix emergency medicine’s real problems

    Anna Heffron, MD, PhD & Polly Wiltz, DO
  • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

    Anonymous
  • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

    Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why this doctor hid her story for a decade

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why this doctor hid her story for a decade

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Reimagining Type 2 diabetes care with nutrition for remission [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How AI is revolutionizing health care through real-world data

      Sujay Jadhav, MBA | Tech
    • Ambient AI: When health monitoring leaves the screen behind

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How kindness in disguise is holding women back in academic medicine

      Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA | Conditions
    • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ laws

      BJ Ferguson | Policy

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why this doctor hid her story for a decade

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why this doctor hid her story for a decade

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Reimagining Type 2 diabetes care with nutrition for remission [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How AI is revolutionizing health care through real-world data

      Sujay Jadhav, MBA | Tech
    • Ambient AI: When health monitoring leaves the screen behind

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How kindness in disguise is holding women back in academic medicine

      Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA | Conditions
    • Why physician voices matter in the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ laws

      BJ Ferguson | Policy

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...