HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Never heard of "grandfathered" certification

Lani · 03-25-2010, 10:57 PM

I think it exists for many of the fields that offer board certification in the various fields/specialties in medicine. It used to be that once certified, there was no further testing that a practitioner was keeping up-to-date, just a requirement for state licensing that so many CME credits were earned. In the 80s/90s I think, the surgical specialties particularly reconsidered that and began
requiring certified doctors to show evidence, either through tests or oversight of their work, that they were keeping up with advances and practicing the "standard of care"

In most of these fields, I have been led to believe, older practitioners ie, those who were initially board-certified many years before were "grandfathered" in and didn't have to undergo the repeated testing to stay board-certified.

It may be another reason to seek out doctors who were NOT initially board certified before the 80s. Some practitioners I understand voluntarily underwent recertification --their credentials should show that.

Perhaps the best thing to do is google the particular board certification society of the type of practitioner you are interested in and seek info on whether certification is life-long or requires periodic recertification.

03-25-2010, 10:57 PM	#2
Lani Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,778	Re: Never heard of "grandfathered" certification I think it exists for many of the fields that offer board certification in the various fields/specialties in medicine. It used to be that once certified, there was no further testing that a practitioner was keeping up-to-date, just a requirement for state licensing that so many CME credits were earned. In the 80s/90s I think, the surgical specialties particularly reconsidered that and began requiring certified doctors to show evidence, either through tests or oversight of their work, that they were keeping up with advances and practicing the "standard of care" In most of these fields, I have been led to believe, older practitioners ie, those who were initially board-certified many years before were "grandfathered" in and didn't have to undergo the repeated testing to stay board-certified. It may be another reason to seek out doctors who were NOT initially board certified before the 80s. Some practitioners I understand voluntarily underwent recertification --their credentials should show that. Perhaps the best thing to do is google the particular board certification society of the type of practitioner you are interested in and seek info on whether certification is life-long or requires periodic recertification.