Just wondering, how important is board certification vs board eligible for job opportunities nowadays?
How important is Board certification vs Only being Board Eligible
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Many jobs require board certification or eligibility within 3 years but not all. You can find options, but they will be limited without certification.
Cash-only outpatient will not require it.
Cash-only outpatient will not require it.
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you really want to be board certified. And if you aren't within 7 years of graduation, you have to do lots of pain in the @ss stuff in addition to the written exam.
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I am not aware of any non-private practice settings where one can continue to work without obtaining board certification in psychiatry.
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There are some desperate rural psych wards and community mental health centers that will take non certified doctors
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This is an n=1 but my wife is going to be taking a position that is only available because the current doc has to retire due to one of the large insurance companies no longer paying for visits with non-BC/BE physicians. Don't know if this is going to be the the norm for this particular insurer or if it's just in this particular market but I think this is becoming more common in a lot of areas.
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I do work in an outpatient clinic and only the medical director is BC. I am like one of 5 or 6 psychiatrists. The owner says he doesn't care if I am ever BC, only the medical director needs to be. My shrink has a great job in a big clinic and he isn't BC. But you really want to be BC ASAP. You have more opportunities.
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About 76% of psychiatrist are board-certified, which is less than the average for all physicians.
About 59 percent of psychiatrists are 55 or older.
Between 1995 and 2013, the total number of psychiatrists in the US rose by 12 percent. And in the same time-span, the US population increased by about 37 percent. Then you have to subtract out the ones who are not looking to work for someone else -- those with their own practice or those that retired.
Basically, there is a shortage of psychiatrists, let alone board-certified ones that want to to work for someone else.
Do they care if the position fills or not?
Usually, doctors are grandfathered in. So it would be strange that insurance companies require the old non-BC doctors to become BC.
Psychiatrist aren't exactly lining up to accept insurance. The specialty has the highest percentage that takes only cash. Those that take insurance are choosy about which ones they take. I can't imagine insurance companies being very choosy.
I'm currently in a very popular city on the coast. About half of the psychiatrist in the hospital are not BC and have privileges in the hospital. They are all older and have been in the area for a while and people know them. They are still getting paid by insurance companies without any problems.
It is funny that the old doctor is "retiring" once your wife is coming in. Administration probably didn't have the heart to tell him (and your wife) the truth -- that the old doctor is being replaced with someone cheaper and more efficient.
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Yes, some companies and academic institutions would prefer to go unfilled over someone that is not even board eligible. Passing the boards is quite easy. With NBPAS, maintaining boards is also simple.
Ok well that does it. Will have to get board certified. I'm just tired of the test companies scamming us for our money. And people wonder why doctors want to get paid alot. Because of these unnecessary hurdles we have to jump. This system is beyond inefficent.
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It wouldn't be strange for them require old non-BC doctors to become BC if there is a financial reason to do so. For example if their analytics shows that non-BC docs provider lower quality care... or their contract with employers states that they will only contract with BC/BE docs... or any other reason really. For insurance companies it all comes down to $'s they don't care whether someone is grandfathered in they just care about $.
Insurance is regional to a large degree... if you ever move you'll see that what's normal in your popular city on the coast is abnormal elsewhere.
It's not that funny. It's a state jobs so we can see his salary and she'll be making more because she's dual boarded. It really is because the insurer won't pay for his services. We've been through this song and dance enough times that she's never going to be the cheaper alternative ever again. She's paid significantly more than all of her counterparts at her current position because she negotiated the heck out of her contract.
And most people think working for the government means job security. Clearly that wasn't the case in this situation.
I'm definitely moving away. Let's hope I don't find out the hard way as I plan to be BC.
I wish more psychiatrists have the same attitude as your wife. How did your wife find the position? How did she negotiate the heck out of her contract?
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Yeah, there's no job security in anything and she knows that. It's just something she's interested in doing if it doesn't work out she'll do something else (the other doc has been there 13 years and the guys that's retiring 20+ I think so who knows she could be there forever). Despite my username I'm a recovering CPA that actually works in health insurance (sorry) and I make more than enough to support us plus they let me work from home so I can follow her wherever she wants to go around the country.
I wouldn't worry about it. You'll get a feel for your region when you get there. In some regions insurers care about have psychiatrists in network and will work with the docs to make it so and in others they don't really want them in their networks at all because then they have to pay for mental health. You can make decent money either way... in the regions where they don't want you just charge cash it's not like the patient is going to have other options if the insurers don't make the effort to recruit docs.
Her current position had been posted for a long long time (like when she started residency long) and we just sent off a resume on a lark. We ended up loving the area where the job is located so she did some other interviews and used the highest offer as the basis for negotiations. We built in all protections we could think of and it worked out awesomely. But the problem is that you can't build protections in for other people in your contract. By that I mean the CEO that was around for a decade + can suddenly get a better job and they can bring in a new Bozo and he can chase off all of the good nurses, therapists, techs, etc in a matter of months and things can start getting dangerous in a hurry.
The new job was just a blind e-mail to someone I found in the department and hey whadda ya know they have someone who's retiring why don't you come in for a meet and greet this week. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
No wonder you sound a bit sharper than the average trophy husband. I'm a numbers guy myself (majored in business in college) so we speak the same language. =)
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Does BC mean you finished psych residency and passed the licensing exams? And BE means you finished psych residency but no licensing exams?
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BC helps in the following regard.
If you're in academia some schools will require it (if you don't have it they might have a rule that you need to apply for it and take the exam within a time period).
If you work for the state same as above.
Any organization could have the same rule as above.
Your pay could go up if you got it.
If sued, you look better having the BC when they present your credentials in court.
Some insurance panels require it.
Do you absolutely need it? No, but IMHO it's going to be worth it cause it opens more doors. Further studying your ass off for the board exam will make you a better psychiatrist though the test by no means is perfect or close to it. Some of the questions led me to believe they were made decades ago and were never updated. It is, however, far better than the PRITE exam.
If you're in academia some schools will require it (if you don't have it they might have a rule that you need to apply for it and take the exam within a time period).
If you work for the state same as above.
Any organization could have the same rule as above.
Your pay could go up if you got it.
If sued, you look better having the BC when they present your credentials in court.
Some insurance panels require it.
Do you absolutely need it? No, but IMHO it's going to be worth it cause it opens more doors. Further studying your ass off for the board exam will make you a better psychiatrist though the test by no means is perfect or close to it. Some of the questions led me to believe they were made decades ago and were never updated. It is, however, far better than the PRITE exam.
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It won't matter except during the time period where you don't have it you'll have more closed doors vs open doors. It also is a monkey on your back you''ll want to get off your back just cause your quality of life will be better. One less thing to worry about.
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I live in a non rural area, and most psychiatrists where I work are not board certified.
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Where? I'm pretty sure I failed third time
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I just know that the pass rate among our alumni is nearly 100% when they take it as soon as they're eligible, and not good at all for those coming back to it after "a few years".
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I didn't take it the first year unfortunately. I went to apply in mid March thinking I was super early and I missed the deadline
For me I need it for my forensic work. Certain evals require me to be boarded in Forensics. I am going for my third certification...Brain Injury Medicine. That is not required...just extra credit. My plan is to treat more BIM patients and get involve in tbi litigation. The only other forensic psychiatrist that is BIM boarded in my state is also boarded in 6 or 7 subspecialties such as c/l, addictions, sleep, etc. Looking at how long he has been practicing, he will do a new one every 3 or 4 years.
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Exactly. Life only gets harder. I see a lot of people try to delay it and the further you get emeshed in work, the harder it is to pass.
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Here is a simple reduction:
Board certification = potential for any job
Non board certified = risk of cash only practice, or possibly job that is in demand enough to take the loss of income from several insurers that require it.
I believe there are some lawsuits out there, possibly by the Internal medicine colleagues, bless their hearts, for noting that emerging pattern of board cert being linked to livelihood. This isn't what board certification should be, and the lawsuit is seeking to rectify that. I'm hoping for some success in that.
Board certification = potential for any job
Non board certified = risk of cash only practice, or possibly job that is in demand enough to take the loss of income from several insurers that require it.
I believe there are some lawsuits out there, possibly by the Internal medicine colleagues, bless their hearts, for noting that emerging pattern of board cert being linked to livelihood. This isn't what board certification should be, and the lawsuit is seeking to rectify that. I'm hoping for some success in that.
