it’s been 10 Years. Again. I know there was a thread about this way back, but nobody has talked about it since. A few colleagues have gone that route and have not had trouble. I was wondering if anyone can chime in about the national board of physicians and surgeons (NBPS) . I guess it’s $300 a year, some questions, they give you CME, and they write you a letter that you are board certified by them in Internal Medicine and a lot of places have been accepting it .
Just heard of alternative to ABIM MOC
- Thread starter pishicat
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Yes, NBPAS and ABPS are alternate boards that will take your (admittedly small amount of) money and write you a letter saying you're board certified with them.
We can (and do) argue the relevance or necessity of board certification in general (and I'm sure a dozen or more folks will be here shortly to do so), but the important thing to consider before you do this is whether or not your current employment situation will allow one of those certifications to count if required for your employment or hospital privileging. My current (and former) position spells out that it must be an ABMS board certification, and this included 5 different hospital systems where I have/had privileges. So I can certainly send NBPAS or ABPS some of my money as an act of protest, but it will not allow me to forego my ABIM recert next year.
We can (and do) argue the relevance or necessity of board certification in general (and I'm sure a dozen or more folks will be here shortly to do so), but the important thing to consider before you do this is whether or not your current employment situation will allow one of those certifications to count if required for your employment or hospital privileging. My current (and former) position spells out that it must be an ABMS board certification, and this included 5 different hospital systems where I have/had privileges. So I can certainly send NBPAS or ABPS some of my money as an act of protest, but it will not allow me to forego my ABIM recert next year.
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Way I look at it: BC is a private product. (BC has nothing to do with a university, with a gov't, with a hospital). [And it's complete BS that the ABIM is a 'non-profit' organization.]
As such, there can (and should) be multiple companies that offer a board certification (in the same way multiple companies offer you a cell phone).
So, let there be competition, and let the best product reign.
NBPAS is becoming more widely accepted, happy to say. But I would agree with @gutonc , that you gotta play ball with your employer and do BC/MOC in accordance with ABMS, if that's what's required. It's not worth losing your job over.
It'll be a wonderful day when NBPAS becomes universally accepted, and we can entirely ditch ABIM/ABMS.
As such, there can (and should) be multiple companies that offer a board certification (in the same way multiple companies offer you a cell phone).
So, let there be competition, and let the best product reign.
NBPAS is becoming more widely accepted, happy to say. But I would agree with @gutonc , that you gotta play ball with your employer and do BC/MOC in accordance with ABMS, if that's what's required. It's not worth losing your job over.
It'll be a wonderful day when NBPAS becomes universally accepted, and we can entirely ditch ABIM/ABMS.
At this point, having a BC other than one from the ABMS/ABIM is more a long-term political move than a money- or time-saving one, because most hospitals and insurance companies still only recognize the mainstream ones. But if you want to move the needle, you can consider hanging an NBPAS plaque instead of an ABIM one, making sure to mention it on your bio/CV instead of the ABIM one, etc.
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It's great to have options, but I think it's more effective to target the source. Eg, write to a congressperson: Anti-MOC Laws Picking Up Steam Across the United States
Change.org petition - Eliminate ABIMs MOC Requirement
Change.org petition - Eliminate ABIMs MOC Requirement
