Utility of Subspecialty Board Certification?

[fozzy40]

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Since the fellowship season is getting underway, I wanted to pose this question since many will people ask: What is the utility of subspecialty board certification?

There are plenty of fellowships out there for physiatry grads, some ACGME accredited and some non-accredited. ACGME does offer guidelines and requirements but there is a good amount of "interpretation" left up to the programs that ultimately designs the curriculum. Quality and curriculum seems to vary across the board no matter if it's accredited or not (in my opinion.) Fellowship definitely depends on what you want to get out of it. However, I feel like you can get EXCELLENT training anywhere regardless if it's accredited or not.

Since there is a good bit of MSK/pain/sports medicine folk in her I'll use the following examples...

Things that I have heards...
- Having subspecialty certification will help you if you want to perform interventional procedures in a university/academic setting; but you could also be noncertified and perform them at a surgicenter
- From a medicolegal perspective, lawyers are bringing up board certification as a "standard of quality and outcome"; however I don't believe that board certification (in the realm of PM&R fellowships) has ever been shown to equate to better care
- If you want to be a spinal cord director or you want to start your own ACGME accredited fellowship, you need to be board certified yourself
- It's a way of leveling the playing field if you are going to a metropolitan area where everyone else is board certified
-It's another feather in your cap

So…what is the utility of subspecialty board certification?

Thoughts?

 

[lobelsteve]

For Pain:

1. Credentialing
2. Insurance participation.
3. Closest measure of standardized training, but cannot verify better quality of care, outcomes, and likely inverse correlation with cost utility of care.

 

[PMR 4 MSK]

So…what is the utility of subspecialty board certification?

Thoughts?

Another place to donate thousands of dollars to a bunch of academics who will give you a piece of paper you can proudly display on your wall. 😀

 

[webtek]

I am wondering the same thing actually! I know that I am not interested in pain...at all, but I would like to learn some basic ISpine techniques like LESI, transforaminal, and SIJ injections. Would doing an accredited PM&R sports fellowship really help me in the long run, or should I just do a non-accredited sports & spine where I could get good training.

Thanks.

 

[PMR 4 MSK]

I am wondering the same thing actually! I know that I am not interested in pain...at all, but I would like to learn some basic ISpine techniques like LESI, transforaminal, and SIJ injections. Would doing an accredited PM&R sports fellowship really help me in the long run, or should I just do a non-accredited sports & spine where I could get good training.

Thanks.

Pure sports may not give much interventional experience. Go with the program that will train you to do what you want to do. If it is ACGME, it's a plus. If not, no biggie. Very few people outside of pain know the difference.

 

[RUOkie]

Another place to donate thousands of dollars to a bunch of academics who will give you a piece of paper you can proudly display on your wall. 😀

I could not have put it better myself. 👍