Can it hurt you if you fail your boards and have to retake?

[Mass Effect]

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I'm an extremely poor test-taker. I always fall for the traps. I'm curious if it'll hurt you if you fail your adult boards, assuming you pass them the second time? Do future employers ask or do they just want to know you're board certified and not care how many times it took?

 

[thepoopologist]

Every conversation I've had with a recruiter its been phrased "are you board certified?" not "how many times did it take for you to become board certified?"

 

[Doc1401]

I'm an extremely poor test-taker. I always fall for the traps. I'm curious if it'll hurt you if you fail your adult boards, assuming you pass them the second time? Do future employers ask or do they just want to know you're board certified and not care how many times it took?

This may only come up in court, eg. Expert witness or malpractice, if the lawyer asks about how many times you took the boards. You then have to tell the court.

 

[darknecrosforte]

EVERY student at my school that did not match this year had one thing in common - 1 or more Step/Level 1 failures. Half of them were attempting to get into psychiatry btw.

 

[Mass Effect]

EVERY student at my school that did not match this year had one thing in common - 1 or more Step/Level 1 failures. Half of them were attempting to get into psychiatry btw.

Might want to read the question before you answer.

 

[darknecrosforte]

Might want to read the question before you answer.

My bad. I also fall for traps apparently.

 

[michaelrack]

I failed part II (oral) of the old psychiatry boards 4 times. Hasn't hurt me yet

 

[Monocles]

Yeah, in the wallet. :'(

 

[Bartelby]

For jobs I don't think it will hurt you once passed. As mentioned above, in court (such as expert witness work) it would be brought up. Overall, what's on the line with boards is much less than with the steps.

 

[whopper]

The only way I can see it realistically hurt you is if you're brought to court because the lawyer on the other side can dig into your past. E.g. if you're being sued for malpractice and you failed 3x they're going to bring this up in court to attack your credibility. There was a legal cause where a Boston psychiatrist over-medicated a child patient to death and it turned out she failed her oral board a serious amount of times (I forgot the exact number but I believe it was more than 5x). It was mentioned in each court case and brought up on 60 Minutes.

In day-to-day work I've never seen this actually brought up ever.

What Killed Rebecca Riley?

What Killed Rebecca Riley?

 

[Shikima]

I'm an extremely poor test-taker. I always fall for the traps. I'm curious if it'll hurt you if you fail your adult boards, assuming you pass them the second time? Do future employers ask or do they just want to know you're board certified and not care how many times it took?

Nope. No one cares.

 

[PikminOC]

They ask about it on state licensing. Or is that just regarding usmle? They ask on malpractice insurance forms.

 

[michaelrack]

I occasionally see the question on forms, it has never held up anything for me- it's not a problem as long as you become certified

 

[Blitz2006]

The only way I can see it realistically hurt you is if you're brought to court because the lawyer on the other side can dig into your past. E.g. if you're being sued for malpractice and you failed 3x they're going to bring this up in court to attack your credibility. There was a legal cause where a Boston psychiatrist over-medicated a child patient to death and it turned out she failed her oral board a serious amount of times (I forgot the exact number but I believe it was more than 5x). It was mentioned in each court case and brought up on 60 Minutes.

In day-to-day work I've never seen this actually brought up ever.

What Killed Rebecca Riley?

What Killed Rebecca Riley?

Do courts ever dig into USMLE scores/results?

 

[Bad Moose]

I just filled out paperwork for credentialing where they asked if I have ever failed a board certification exam and if I did write a statement of why!

 

[WingedOx]

They ask about it on state licensing. Or is that just regarding usmle? They ask on malpractice insurance forms.

Mine just had a generic question about "failing boards", which I assumed to mean either one.

 

[michaelrack]

I just filled out paperwork for credentialing where they asked if I have ever failed a board certification exam and if I did write a statement of why!

I see that sometimes, and just scribble the explanation "I failed part 2 of the Psychiatry boards but have subsequently passed "...sometimes "4 times " is in my explanation .
The key words are "subsequently passed "