Board eligible/certified- is it necessary?

[liquidshadow22]

Just curious, if one finishes 1-2 years of psych residency, then quits. And said person would then be able to practice as a psychiatrist in the community and perhaps could do locums inpatient psych and do well for themselves, probably at least > 200k per year, correct?

What are the advantages of actually finishing residency being BE/BC in comparison to someone with psych training who did not finish the entire residency? Is there a financial argument for perhaps finishing 2 years of residency and then just moving into the workforce earlier than "required"?

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[Stagg737]

Just curious, if one finishes 1-2 years of psych residency, then quits. And said person would then be able to practice as a psychiatrist in the community and perhaps could do locums inpatient psych and do well for themselves, probably at least > 200k per year, correct?

What are the advantages of actually finishing residency being BE/BC in comparison to someone with psych training who did not finish the entire residency? Is there a financial argument for perhaps finishing 2 years of residency and then just moving into the workforce earlier than "required"?

I'd guess it would depend on the state. Certain states require you to complete 2 or 3 years of GME in order to gain your independent license. Additionally I don't believe most insurance companies would reimburse you for seeing patients if you did not complete a residency. Again, I believe this would depend on the company and state regulations. Regardless, it certainly behooves every med school grad in the US to complete a residency as it opens up so many more options than trying to practice without completing a residency.

 

[hamstergang]

Just curious, if one finishes 1-2 years of psych residency, then quits. And said person would then be able to practice as a psychiatrist in the community

I think the hospital I work at requires you to have completed residency to be hired, and it requires board certification within some number of years. I imagine many jobs are like this and thus would be unavailable.

 

[psyguru]

Also it would necessary to complete a residency to do ime or expert witness work.

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[TexasPhysician]

Every job that I’ve seen has required board eligibility or current info on my training to verify that I was actively in-training (for moonlighting).

Maybe a residency drop out would be able to obtain prison jobs in the middle of nowhere, but that may even be a stretch.

Obtaining malpractice insurance may also be difficult.

 

[WisNeuro]

We are currently hiring for a psychiatrist, and are the largest healthcare system in our state, and we require board eligibility. Also, I can't imagine referring a patient to someone without it.

 

[Candidate2017]

Is there a financial argument for perhaps finishing 2 years of residency and then just moving into the workforce earlier than "required"?

Why 2 years? Life is all about short cuts. All you need is 1 year to be a GP to hand out bags of SSRIs, benzos, addy, special K and the occasional support animal. Youll be millions of dollars ahead when the chumps who do a full residency finally graduate, and you can afford the best malpractice insurance and criminal lawyers.

Gtfo.

 

[liquidshadow22]

Why 2 years? Life is all about short cuts. All you need is 1 year to be a GP to hand out bags of SSRIs, benzos, addy, special K and the occasional support animal. Youll be millions of dollars ahead when the chumps who do a full residency finally graduate, and you can afford the best malpractice insurance and criminal lawyers.

Gtfo.

Hahaha. Absolutely hilarious. 4th yr of psych residency is completely unnecessary and nothing short of a scam.

One can easily practice as a psychiatrist after 2-3 years of training. We don't have nearly the same liability or knowledge base to master compared to other medical fields do, yet our training is longer than peds, Im, em, fm. Lol you gtfo

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

The PGY-IV year can be made a joke. It is mostly electives so it is useful if you make it so. It can open doors and give you specific skills to make you marketable. I don't know anyone who masters any medical field including IM, EM, and yes, Psych. I see life long learning isn't your thing.

 

[WisNeuro]

The PGY-IV year can be made a joke. It is mostly electives so it is useful if you make it so. It can open doors and give you specific skills to make you marketable. I don't know anyone who masters any medical field including IM, EM, and yes, Psych. I see life long learning isn't your thing.

Pillz B4 Skillz, yo.

 

[liquidshadow22]

The PGY-IV year can be made a joke. It is mostly electives so it is useful if you make it so. It can open doors and give you specific skills to make you marketable. I don't know anyone who masters any medical field including IM, EM, and yes, Psych. I see life long learning isn't your thing.

I never said that one masters the field during residency. That's not the point: why does it take longer to attain board certification in psychiatry than these other medical fields? It's makes no sense. A trainee does not need to be in a training program making minimum wage with little autonomy to ensure lifelong learning.

 

[AD04]

What works in theory and what is actually established in practice are two different things. It may be possible for you to be good enough after 2 years of training. But on the other hand, there are psychiatrists out there who practice so poorly after 4 or more years of training. Imagine how much worse they will be if they only had to do 2 years of training.

I'm ok with the 4 years because it acts somewhat as a safeguard for incompetence -- especially for the people who think psychiatry is just about giving pills, the people who don't truly love the field. And with 4 years of training, it keeps away those who just wants to take the easy way out.

This is a free country and you are free to do what you please. You can drop out after 2 years and let us know how you turn out. You won't have as many opportunities though as many employers require BE / BC.

 

[TexasPhysician]

why does it take longer to attain board certification in psychiatry than these other medical fields? It's makes no sense. A trainee does not need to be in a training program making minimum wage with little autonomy to ensure lifelong learning.

Specialties are typically longer than pcp residencies, partly because you are expected to be an expert of that region of the body.

PGY-4 can be a lucrative year. I made more than my attending a moonlighting. I could still present such “hypothetical” cases to faculty and learn.

 

[clausewitz2]

The PGY-IV year can be made a joke. It is mostly electives so it is useful if you make it so. It can open doors and give you specific skills to make you marketable. I don't know anyone who masters any medical field including IM, EM, and yes, Psych. I see life long learning isn't your thing.

So much this. Very excited about what I have managed to schedule for my third year (managed to create my own hyper-specialized elective, yay) but the universe of possibilities for exposure to unusual pathologies/populations/practice settings while still having the safety net of a supervising attending...how could you not love the idea of fourth year?

Also, seriously, 50-60K for working <40 hours a week is not minimum wage. The IM and surgery folks can complain about this, but not psych residents in their outpatient years.

 

[futuredo32]

You really do need to finish residency. You are BE 5 years after at least in Mi. If you do private practice you don't need to be BC. In Mi for private practice you can accept BC BS and few employers will hire you if you aren't BC. But its best to be BC.

 

[TexasPhysician]

From a financial perspective, it will only harm you to quit.

If you want the most financially rewarding path, choose a residency that lets you moonlight starting pgy-2.

 

[liquidshadow22]

Appreciate all the feedback. Seems like the standard path is the safe decision in the long run.

 

[notdeadyet]

I am probably more motivated by financial rewards than anyone on this board, and I understand where you are coming from OP. I had the same thoughts myself. I do agree with you that after 1 year of internship and 1 year of psych residency, you've learned about 90% of what you need to know to be an excellent psychiatrist (at least, looking back, I felt that way...but I also went to a very strong training program).

If you really felt you were 90% trained as an excellent psychiatrist by end of PGY-2, the residency needs to rethink how it trains.