American Board of Abdominal Surgery

[igap]

http://www.abdominalsurg.org/board.html

Just curious what the general surgeons in the house think of this. Is this body legitimate? Or is this for non-general surgeons to get a piece of paper saying that they are "abdominal surgeons"?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Winged Scapula]

This is for general surgeons who cannot pass the ABS examinations but want to say they are board certified, IMHO.

 

[JackADeli]

I like being in alot of clubs... but got to draw the line somewhere. I can't speak to what this abdominal "board" is or what it claims to do or accomplish. But, I see it adding nothing more then is obtained by ABS certification... except maybe less prestige (IMHO). I don't know why a vascular surgeon having done GSurge residency would do it? I can see why a urologist and/or gynecologist might.

All these "boards" really raise the issue of ethics. Getting "boarded" into something questionable just so you can claim to be "boarded" is disturbing.... reminds me of the thread discussion on aesthetics....

JAD

 

[Castro Viejo]

Hmmm...

Additionally, I came across something called the American Board of Certification in Surgery.

http://www.abpsus.org/certification/surgery/index.html

It is quite disturbing that there are multiple specialty boards seemingly for the purposes of achieveing "board certification" while circumventing the ABMS-sanctioned organizations.

But I suppose for those surgeons who can't pass the ABS exams, what else can they do? Sell hot dogs on the street? Throw away the last decade or so of training?

Though I'm not so sure that these alternate boards would qualify one for continued hospital privileges... I think I also read somewhere that both New York and California have enacted legislation making it illegal for physicians who were boarded through non-ABMS boards to refer to themselves as "board certified."

 

[maxheadroom]

Hmmm...
It is quite disturbing that there are multiple specialty boards seemingly for the purposes of achieveing "board certification" while circumventing the ABMS-sanctioned organizations.

Welcome to the struggles of Plastic Surgery.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Welcome to the struggles of Plastic Surgery.

If it makes you feel better, I chastized (and educated) my MA last week for referring to one of my BC PRS guys, as a "cosmetic surgeon" and told her to never refer to him that way.

 

[Black Surgeon]

This is for general surgeons who cannot pass the ABS examinations but want to say they are board certified, IMHO.

But I suppose for those surgeons who can't pass the ABS exams, what else can they do? Sell hot dogs on the street? Throw away the last decade or so of training?

Are those examinations really that difficult to pass? or are you reffering to an individual not being able to sit for the exams for some underlying reasons?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Are those examinations really that difficult to pass? or are you reffering to an individual not being able to sit for the exams for some underlying reasons?

The overall pass rate for the combined written and oral exams is around 70% which is much lower than the pass rates for IM, for example. It is higher than it used to be as apparently the powers that be realized that by failing a large number of candidates they were essentially admitting that the surgical residency programs were failures in training candidates.

The ABS shows pass rates by surgical programs if you are interested. Some programs boast a 100% pass rate and others hover around 50%.

 

[Black Surgeon]

The ABS shows pass rates by surgical programs if you are interested. Some programs boast a 100% pass rate and others hover around 50%.

Wow, 50% seems catastrophically low! Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

[Black Surgeon]

For those who are also interested, here it is:

http://home.absurgery.org/xfer/fyp2008summary.pdf

 

[EMT_DO]

This is for general surgeons who cannot pass the ABS examinations but want to say they are board certified, IMHO.

There are those who are ineligeble for ABS certification such as those who have completed an Osteopathic surgical residency, although we have our own board examination, one might desire an extra certification? I don't know.....

 

[igap]

Do people who become "certified" by these bodies get hospital privileges? If not, it seems like a waste of time and money.

 

[Winged Scapula]

There are those who are ineligeble for ABS certification such as those who have completed an Osteopathic surgical residency, although we have our own board examination, one might desire an extra certification? I don't know.....

There is no need, IMHO.

BC by the Osteopathic Board is sufficient and equivalent to the ABS.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Do people who become "certified" by these bodies get hospital privileges? If not, it seems like a waste of time and money.

Currently hospital privileges are not based on whether or not you are board certified. I have privileges at one hospital that requires it but most others have not made it a contingent of employment or privileges.

So the BC by these alternate boards do nothing in terms of privileges as I would imagine most hospitals that require it, require ABMS certification.

 

[JackADeli]

Currently hospital privileges are not based on whether or not you are board certified. ..I would imagine most hospitals that require it, require ABMS certification.

It's definately an increasing trend to require ABMS board certification. Partly as a result of increasing malpractice premiums. I have seen at most hospitals I have considered employment recently:

1. Bylaws requiring board cert eligibility and/or obtaining certification within a definitive period of time
2. Hospitals are ever more frequently advertising that "all our physicians are board certified"....

I don't know how these "boards" outside the ABMS will fair against hospital bylaws and regs on board cert. I knew a surgeon that was not certified in her subspecialty because of some foreign component of her training. The hospital enacted new bylaws requiring certification within a set period of time. This surgeon would never be eligible (but was GFathered in). She mentioned she could not really leave the hospital as most other hospitals had enacted similar rules and thus she had to really be careful as limited other employment options given her status....

 

[Castro Viejo]

Are those examinations really that difficult to pass? or are you reffering to an individual not being able to sit for the exams for some underlying reasons?

"Each year, approximately 3% of the initial cohort of applicants exhaust their admissibility without passing either the QE or the CE."

Rehm CG, Rowland PA. The Remedial Year in the General Surgery
Board Certification Process: How Effective Is It? Current Surgery 62(6):644-649, 2005.

That really sucks, even if only 3%.