Beware of Board Certification Offers
That Are Too Good to Be True
[Posted 12/08/05]

Many physicians may remember the days before California law prohibited physicians from advertising of “board certification” from unrecognized medical specialties. In 1993 a state law took effect that allowed physicians to advertise board certification only if the certifying board or association is recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or deemed to be equivalent by the Medical Board of California (MBC). Before that law took effect, physicians were bombarded regularly with advertisements for quick and easy “board certification” programs. Occasionally such advertisements still show up on the Internet or in physician mailboxes, tempting the unwary.

CMA recently became aware of a certification program offered by the American College of Geriatric Specialists, an organization that is not recognized by ABMS or deemed equivalent by MBC. According to advertising materials, physicians can become “board certified” by paying $500, filling out a one-page application, writing a one-page essay on one of 20 topics (for example, “overview of digitalis toxicity in elderly patients”), and writing “clinical impressions” of five one-paragraph case descriptions.

While physicians are certainly free to pay $500 for a certificate to hang on their wall, state law prohibits advertising that certification unless the certifying organization is recognized by ABMS or deemed equivalent by MBC. (The only boards currently deemed equivalent by MBC are the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Board of Pain Medicine, the American Board of Sleep Medicine, and the American Board of Spine Surgery.)

Contact: CMA’s legal information line, 415/882-5144 or legalinfo@cmanet.org.