Board certified in ortho? Or hand surgery?

[augeremt]

Hi all,

How do you figure out if your doctor/hand surgeon is board certified in ortho and/or hand surgery? I tried looking up his name on the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery website but nothing pops up for either of the two hand surgeons in the clinic I've been going to. But my hand doctor from when I was a kid does show up there for both ortho and hand.

I was under the impression that all surgeons had to be board certified to practice, so it's weird that neither he nor the other hand guy in the practice are listed on the site. My guy is also an assistant professor at the med school here in ortho (more specifically hand injuries), and has completed a residency in ortho and a fellowship in hand surgery (I'm a great Googler). In other words, seems legit.

Am I looking in the wrong place? And if you don't need to board certified, can someone explain the significance of board certification then? I'm thoroughly confused.

Thanks!

P.S. I'm not just using this board for help with looking up hand surgeons. I'm actually quite interested in ortho as a specialty so it would be enlightening to know how the whole board certification thing works.

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[skiz knot]

Hi all,

How do you figure out if your doctor/hand surgeon is board certified in ortho and/or hand surgery? I tried looking up his name on the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery website but nothing pops up for either of the two hand surgeons in the clinic I've been going to. But my hand doctor from when I was a kid does show up there for both ortho and hand.

I was under the impression that all surgeons had to be board certified to practice, so it's weird that neither he nor the other hand guy in the practice are listed on the site. My guy is also an assistant professor at the med school here in ortho (more specifically hand injuries), and has completed a residency in ortho and a fellowship in hand surgery (I'm a great Googler). In other words, seems legit.

Am I looking in the wrong place? And if you don't need to board certified, can someone explain the significance of board certification then? I'm thoroughly confused.

Thanks!

P.S. I'm not just using this board for help with looking up hand surgeons. I'm actually quite interested in ortho as a specialty so it would be enlightening to know how the whole board certification thing works.

Is he Board Eligible? It may be that he is a recent graduate that hasn't passed his board exams yet. It takes ~2.5 years after finishing to become officially board certified. For hand surgery, look for a "certificate of additional quallification in hand surgery" or CAQ.

 

[augeremt]

Is he Board Eligible? It may be that he is a recent graduate that hasn't passed his board exams yet. It takes ~2.5 years after finishing to become officially board certified. For hand surgery, look for a "certificate of additional quallification in hand surgery" or CAQ.

He is young, having just finished his hand fellowship a couple years ago so I figured that could be it. But for the other guy in the practice, it says he was board certified in the late 70s/early 80s in his online hospital profile thingy, but there's no record of him on the ABOS website.

I have no idea how to find out if my guy is Board Eligible, or has the CAQ, since it's not listed in the online profile. He seems to know his stuff and I can see his desire to figure out what's wrong with me and the wheels turning in his head every time I see him. So that's all I can ask of my doc. I was just curious to figure out his awesomeness based on papers and other more concrete stuff.

Thanks for the info about the time-frame for certification. I thought it was a "finish residency and get the paper" kind of thing. And do you need to be board certified to practice in a specialty and/or subspecialty? Or is that something that is optional but really good to have?

 

[judgementday]

You can practice without being Board Certified as FMG's are able to do it. However, it is against ACGME requirements if you have someone who is not Board Eligible as a teaching faculty member. The newer faculty member more than likely will not be listed because he has not taken Part II of the boards. The older faculty member may not be listed because he never re-certified (this is just a guess).

 

[maxheadroom]

Not all Hand Surgeons are Orthopedic surgeons. Check and see if your surgeon is either a Plastic Surgeon or a General Surgeon. All three are pathways to Hand Surgery, with the most common being Ortho & Plastics.

 

[augeremt]

Looks like he is Board Eligible, based on his other profession memberships that require board certification or eligibility for membership. This makes a lot more sense now. Thanks again for all the responses!