Original article
Who Claims to Be a Pediatrician?

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Objective

The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of physicians who self or otherwise declare themselves to be pediatricians but who have never achieved board certification.

Study design

We compared a roster from the state licensure file of eight geographically diverse states containing those designated as pediatricians with a listing from the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) of those who had ever achieved board certification. We then sent a mail survey to a sample of 500 physicians who appeared as pediatricians on the state licensure files but for whom there was no record of certification with the ABP.

Results

The proportion of unmatched pediatricians ranges from 6.9% in Massachusetts to 16.8% in Maryland, and averages 11% across all of the states in our study. The survey response rate was 64%. The majority (61%) of respondents described having undertaken residency training in categorical pediatrics or medicine-pediatrics. The remainder reported surgical residencies (31%) or were combined into an “other” category (8%). Eighty-five percent reported having completed 3 or more years of postgraduate training. Almost all (94%) completed training in the United States or Canada.

Conclusions

There is increasing attention to board certification and patient safety among the media and public.1, 2, 3, 4 A clearer delineation of the proportion of physicians in a given state reporting to be pediatricians who have not completed board certification can help inform parents of the odds they will encounter noncertified physicians in the hospitals and among the health plans in which they seek care for their children.

Section snippets

States

Two states were randomly selected from each region of the United States (North, South, East and West). Eligibility for state selection was determined by a state both (1) having physician specialty designation on its licensure file and (2) being willing to sell its physician licensure roster for research purposes. Thus, state licensure data were obtained from eight states: North: Ohio and Wisconsin; South: Texas and Mississippi; East: Massachusetts and Maryland; and West: Oregon and Arizona.

Matching Results

Table I shows the absolute number and proportion of individuals found in the licensure file of each state who are identified as pediatricians (generalist or subspecialist) and who were ever board certified by the ABP. The proportion of unmatched pediatricians ranges from 6.9% in Massachusetts to 16.8% in Maryland, and it averages 11% across all of the states in our study.

Survey Response Rate

Of the 500 surveys mailed, 102 recipients were either retired, deceased, did not provide care to children, or had an

Discussion

We were unable to verify that 11% of physicians who are listed as, or have declared themselves as, pediatricians on state licensure files have ever been board certified by the ABP. There is also a wide range in the number of such physicians among the states examined, from 6.9% to 16.8%. Until this study was conducted, there had not been a data-driven estimate of the proportion of those reporting to be pediatricians in a given state who have ever been board certified. With increasing attention

References (7)

  • United Press International. Feb 21, 2006. Pediatric credentialing lax at hospitals. Available at:...
  • Forbes.com. February 21, 2006. Many hospitals don’t require board certification for pediatricians. Available at:...
  • Freudenheim M. Market place; WebMD wants to go beyond information. New York Times. February 23, 2006. Available online...
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

List of members of the Research Advisory Committee is available in the Appendix.

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