Pros/Cons of immediate board certification?

[TexasPhysician]

Does anyone understand the pros/cons of doing board certification in psychiatry as soon as you graduate? What are the drawbacks to waiting 1+ years? It doesn't appear like there would be a shortage of opportunities as there are plenty of job openings. Please help me to understand this without going into the politics of certification/MOC and it's usefulness.

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[notdeadyet]

Pay, for one. Many jobs have accept BE/BC applicants but have a boost of several thousand dollars annually for board certification.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Other than a couple thousand extra bucks/year, why else do we do this? There must be a reason I don't understand.

 

[F0nzie]

Pros of certification:

Job marketability for "desirable" employed positions ie. Rehabs, academic hospitals, certain private practices.

If you want to start climbing the chain of command you pretty much need to be board certified. ie. chief, medical director.

Lifelong learning. If you enjoy the field its a good way to stay engaged with the latest developments if you're not the type to study on your own.

Cons of not being certified:

"what? You're not board certified?"

Not meeting the minimum standard as established and promoted by the medical community. And by medical community I mean the doctors who pay to get certified-- even the ones who complain like the author of this article in psychiatric times.

Less money. The reality is that board certification pays. You pay the board with your time and money and the board pays you back with an even higher salary from an employer or insurance company. That's a lot of power.

Forgetting the material.

If you wait past 7 years you lose board eligibility and need to go back to your training program for mock interview tests and complete additional CME. How embarrassing!

If you're starting a family, moving, or undergoing a big transition after residency and plan on taking the boards I highly recommend delaying them and taking advantage of that 7 year window period. Look at it from the perspective of your psychological benefit. Just make sure you think you can pass the test the longer you wait.

If you don't agree with the boards then make a stand and don't take them. As TP mentioned, the job market is pretty good and this will likely continue to be the case for years to come.

 

[heyjack70]

If you don't agree with the boards then make a stand and don't take them. As TP mentioned, the job market is pretty good and this will likely continue to be the case for years to come.

Board eligibility is a minimum requirement for any job I've seen in psychiatry. In the old days, completing residency meant you were board eligible. But now the boards are saying if you don't get certified in 7 years, you have to go back to your residency and jump through more hoops to remain eligible. This doesn't sit well with me at all. I think it's manipulation from the board to force people to get certified. Which drives up their revenue. I think there's a lawsuit in here somewhere.

 

[psychattending]

Does anyone understand the pros/cons of doing board certification in psychiatry as soon as you graduate? What are the drawbacks to waiting 1+ years? It doesn't appear like there would be a shortage of opportunities as there are plenty of job openings. Please help me to understand this without going into the politics of certification/MOC and it's usefulness.

My experience as a PD has been that residents who put it off because they want time to prepare/study tend to keep postponing it because other things begin to pop up. My recommendation to my residents is to take it right after you graduate. You know enough and that is when you have the least amount of patient obligations.

 

[whopper]

Some insurance companies demand BC to be paneled. Some don't care, some don't care at first but require it within about 1 year of getting paneled.

 

[Shikima]

My experience as a PD has been that residents who put it off because they want time to prepare/study tend to keep postponing it because other things begin to pop up. My recommendation to my residents is to take it right after you graduate. You know enough and that is when you have the least amount of patient obligations.

Agreed and sound advice. Unfortunately, the realities are these - moving, employment hunting and the exam is far too expensive for someone coming out of residency training (there are those, including myself, who did live paycheck to paycheck).

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I hear all of the arguments about money and timing, but make the boards a priority. It isn’t the last hurdle, but it is the last big one. I would say without exception there are two kinds of graduates: those that take boards right away, and those that wish they had.

 

[whopper]

If you're in program with an extremely easy PGY-IV year, then yes, get the board-certification. Most programs I've seen get a lot easier 3rd and 4th year.

 

[Shikima]

I wish all programs were designed to be easy, but the program I came from (not to be named) was poorly run, limited staffing and utilization of 4th years as attendings to gap fill shortcomings on various services. All in all, a good idea Whopper.

MacDT, I agree (and so would a lot of others) that boards are a priority. Circumstances in life and finances do not allow for this all of the time and sensitivity to those would be advisable.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I know, I know, I didn't wish to sound insensitive. I just want to say that you shouldn't underestimate how happy you will be to get this behind you. If you can't you can't, but graduation doesn't feel real until you get this done. The analogy would be being an all but thesis PhD psychologist.

 

[whopper]

The good thing about studying for the board exam is it's stuff that you will actually (at least I did) find relevant vs having to memorize histo slides and things you knew weren't going to be relevant, were uninteresting, and there was enough of it to drown you in sorrow.