Board certification

[scharnhorst]

Hi my family medicine board certification is about to lapse by end of yr and because of a family emergency I was not able to study for it. I might not clear the exam and my certification will lapse
What should I expect ? Will my current employer terminate the contract ?
The state license will be revoked ?
I will definitely retake it April and hopefully if cleared abfm is saying my certification will be restored without delay.
Any advice ?

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[VA Hopeful Dr]

You will not lose your state license.

Talk to your employer. Assuming they aren't trying to get rid of you, they will likely work with you while you're working to retake and pass the exam.

 

[scharnhorst]

You will not lose your state license.

Talk to your employer. Assuming they aren't trying to get rid of you, they will likely work with you while you're working to retake and pass the exam.

I think only reason they would get rid of me if some insurances like Medicaid Medicare mediCAL will not work with me since I’m not board certified

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I think only reason they would get rid of me if some insurances like Medicaid Medicare mediCAL will not work with me since I’m not board certified

Correct, but there is usually a grace period for that.

We had a doctor whose board certification had lapsed. We then got bought out by a new hospital who required everyone to be board certified. After I think 18-24 months and 3 exam failures they ended up "allowing him" to retire. Same situation with one of my partners. His lapsed but they let him work for 8 months until he turned 65 then retired.

 

[scharnhorst]

Correct, but there is usually a grace period for that.

We had a doctor whose board certification had lapsed. We then got bought out by a new hospital who required everyone to be board certified. After I think 18-24 months and 3 exam failures they ended up "allowing him" to retire. Same situation with one of my partners. His lapsed but they let him work for 8 months until he turned 65 then retired.

That sounds incredibly generous
I will have a 4 month gap to fill
Dec to April
Should I need to notify insurances about it ? I called abfm and they said they don’t notify anyone

 

[hallowmann]

I think only reason they would get rid of me if some insurances like Medicaid Medicare mediCAL will not work with me since I’m not board certified

I don't believe you'll have a problem billing Medicaid, MediCal, and Medicare even if board certification lapses. I was able to bill to all 3 prior to board certification. Obviously talk to your employer, but realistically I be shocked if they'll anything more than just having you take it in April. You could also consider looking into NBPAS (Certification Criteria), to have that certification as a temporizing measure until you take the ABFM exam again.

 

[FrustratedFamDoc]

I want to post this to help current and future test takers.

I was due for my retake this year and began the longitudinal program. After 2 quarters, I was kicked out of the longitudinal program due to not completing a module prior to the deadline, even though I completed it the next day and pleaded with my advisor. I really counted on that program as an 8 hour test for my livelihood was puke worthy. Well too bad slacker, you're now screwed. You did this to yourself.

I had to call my wife and tell her the news. Shockingly, she didn't divorce me.



I took my recertification board exam yesterday.

It's been 10 years.




I did the pass machine (yes, very cheesy sounding name) online review course. It included well organized notes, video lectures, and over 3000 q-bank questions.

The lectures were awesome. They were done by other family docs. You can pause, rewind, speed up and slow down the speech. The lecture notes are concise and well organized. The material addressed was no fluff lectures was VERY well represented on my board exam to the point that I actually cracked a small smile after the first 10 questions. Very high yield.

I won't go in to any details of the exam itself as that is unethical, but I will say that the course was well worth the $.

 

[scharnhorst]

I don't believe you'll have a problem billing Medicaid, MediCal, and Medicare even if board certification lapses. I was able to bill to all 3 prior to board certification. Obviously talk to your employer, but realistically I be shocked if they'll anything more than just having you take it in April. You could also consider looking into NBPAS (Certification Criteria), to have that certification as a temporizing measure until you take the ABFM exam again.

thanks
Is this at something that is recognized by most healthcare organizations? I work for an FQHC And in my contract it doesn’t specify what kind of board certification I need

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

thanks
Is this at something that is recognized by most healthcare organizations? I work for an FQHC And in my contract it doesn’t specify what kind of board certification I need

Nope, the NBPAS website has a list of hospitals that do accept it.

 

[scharnhorst]

Nope, the NBPAS website has a list of hospitals that do accept it.

Thanks,Seems like my regional hospital does accept it
Does it affect malpractice issues ? Abfm or NBPAS certification?
Does it matter ?

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Thanks,Seems like my regional hospital does accept it
Does it affect malpractice issues ? Abfm or NBPAS certification?
Does it matter ?

That I don't know

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Hi my family medicine board certification is about to lapse by end of yr and because of a family emergency I was not able to study for it. I might not clear the exam and my certification will lapse
What should I expect ? Will my current employer terminate the contract ?
The state license will be revoked ?
I will definitely retake it April and hopefully if cleared abfm is saying my certification will be restored without delay.
Any advice ?

State license depends on passing your steps and how many years of training you did. In short, it will not be affected

Your job should explicitly say in the contract what the requirements are. Nevertheless, most jobs will likely work with you regardless of the context wording unless they're looking to fire you

 

[scharnhorst]

NBPAS is accepted at my local hospital is that significant? My employers have not heard of NBPAS so they don’t know what to say about it
My contract does not explicitly state any specific board certification is required

Let’s see if I pass or not this time

 

[scharnhorst]

Is prelim pass always a pass or they change it to fail later ?
Freaked out

 

[jacobus1919]

Is prelim pass always a pass or they change it to fail later ?
Freaked out

Did you get your prelim?

 

[scharnhorst]

Did you get your prelim?

Yes they say it’s pass but with a huge caveat

 

[jacobus1919]

Yes they say it’s pass but with a huge caveat

if it is a pass then its a pass?

 

[scharnhorst]

if it is a pass then its a pass?

I’m hoping
But if it’s a prelim pass result then can it turn into fail in the final report ?

 

[B1GM0N3Y86]

I’m hoping
But if it’s a prelim pass result then can it turn into fail in the final report ?

I have never heard of a prelim pass turn out to be a fail.

 

[scharnhorst]

I have never heard of a prelim pass turn out to be a fail.

I hope so
That would be unbelievably cruel

 

[jacobus1919]

I hope so
That would be unbelievably cruel

I believe if you receive a prelim pass you are all set.. Yet my Result status remains in process. So anyone have experience with this situation