D.O. with a question about the boards and licensure

[CT4]

Hello,

I am a 4th year D.O. student and I may be completing my residency at an allopathic program. My question is when I finish residency, will I have to sit for both the D.O. and M.D. Family Practice boards? Or can I just take the D.O. borards? Or does it just depend on the state that I will practice in? Finally, do board certified D.O.'s in family practice have to re-certify every certain number of years like the M.D.'s? Thank you very much.

Robert

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[edfig99]

i'm not a DO but the way one of my DO attendings explained to me -- if you go to an allopathic residency, then you can sit for the allo board but you can't sit for the osteo board unless you've gotten permission. check out www.acofp.org and www.aobfp.org regarding board requirements for the osteo stuff.... and www.abfp.org for the allo. he's only taken the allo boards.

DOs do have to recertify every few years.

 

[PACtoDOC]

Once you attend an allopathic FP program that is not dually accredited, you are essentially no longer affilliated with the AOA. In fact, as a DO, you are not even required to take step 3 COMLEX because most states require one or the other (USMLE or COMLEX). The only way you can take both boards is if the program is dually accredited. But no way I am paying that kind of money to take both board when one is enough.

 

[Scarlet_Fire]

Actually, it depends on whether or not you took USMLE parts 1 and 2. To obtain a medical license, you have to take parts 1, 2, 3 of either COMLEX or USLME, but NOT mix-n-matched. If you took COMLEX 1 and 2 and USMLE 2, for example, the only way you could get around taking COMLEX 3 would be to take USMLE 1 and 3. Licensure is the prerogative of the individual state which issues you your medical license, and to obtain a license requires all 3 parts in sequence.

Now, the specialty board for board certification (here Family Practice) can be done in either, depending on your program. The issue of board certification has more to do with privileges in hospitals, insurance issues rather than getting a license, which has everything to do with USMLE or COMLEX 1/2/3. Hope this clarifies the issue.