practice after 1 year residency?

[psychtorads]

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can you practice psychiatry after one year of residency in certain states?

 

[outofhere]

Do you mean after PGY-1 year or after intern year, and another year of psychiatry?

You can do WHATEVER you want with your license. You may not be able to purchase malpractice though. I mean, I can decide I want to do brain surgery, but no insurance company would sell me malpractice, since I have not touched a scalpel since MS3 year...

That being said, seriously, you need more training. Even after residency, you still need supervision to get better at this work.

 

[musm2008]

When a residency says moonlighting is allowed, but you must be fully liscenced, does that mean after step 3?

 

[PsychMD2100]

It's not just Step 3. You have to have a full, unrestricted medical license in the state of your practice. While it varies from state to state, you will likely need at least an internship under your belt before being eligible to apply for an unrestricted medical license. The training medical license that you get during internship does not count as an unrestricted medical license. Thus, you will rarely see anyone more junior than a PGY-2 earning money as a moonlighter.

 

[musm2008]

Then how can any resident be licensed? I thought specialty boards were a pretty big deal. Wouldn't it be hard to take them before you finish your residency? Especially psych boards- someone told me there was a 50% pass rate or something crazy like that.

 

[Doc Samson]

Then how can any resident be licensed? I thought specialty boards were a pretty big deal. Wouldn't it be hard to take them before you finish your residency? Especially psych boards- someone told me there was a 50% pass rate or something crazy like that.

A medical license is different than board certification. The state license typically requires that you have passed Step 3, had at least one year of GME, and have 3 LORs from currently licensed colleagues (usually your training director/attendings, etc.). To moonlight, you'll also nead a DEA number (not the training number you get as an intern), and (depending on the state) a state drug permit. Once that's done, you'll need to make sure you have malpractice coverage (not all residency policies extend to off-campus activity).

Board certification is the written and oral exam that you take after you graduate from residency. It is not required to practice psychiatry, but is fast becoming a very important credential in the job market, since insurance companies are starting to vary reimbursement based on board certification, and more and more hospitals are starting to require it. If you plan on doing any expert testimony work, board certification is pretty much a sine qua non.