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Nov 3 2014

Board changes reentry requirements

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At its September meeting, the NCMB voted to revise its method of addressing the clinical competency of license applicants without recent clinical experience. The new policy requires these applicants to be assessed by organizations experienced at determining physician competency.

Previously, the Board required physician license applicants who had been out of active clinical practice for two or more years before seeking licensure, or reinstatement of licensure, in North Carolina to design and complete a program of reentry approved by the Board. However, it has been challenging for the Board to determine whether applicants have gaps in their clinical knowledge and skill that should be addressed. In addition, the Board has had little ability to accurately assess whether the approved reentry program meets its goal of safely reintegrating the applicant into active practice.

The new policy will require physician license applicants who have not practiced clinical medicine for two or more years to complete a formal examination or assessment approved by the Board, and follow all applicable recommendations. The Board is unable to determine what type of competency assessment will be required until the complete license application has been reviewed.

Reentry requirements affect a small fraction of license applicants. About 200 licensees have completed programs of reentry since the Board began requiring them about eight years ago.

 Comments on this article:

I’ve been out of practice since Jan2013.  Passed my Family Medicine recertification Mar2014 with a 90% on the written exam.  I think it’s ludicrous that for somebody who generally triples CME requirements, has kept up with CME, journals etc to be saddled with the expense (after a prolonged period out of practice and without an income) of an additional evaluation and further onerous requirements to be ridiculous.  One size does NOT fit all.  I applaud that there appears to be movement toward sanity with the new policy.  NCMB systems in general need to be streamlined.

By RJ Oenbrink DO on Nov 04, 2014 at 3:50pm

There also is the similiar issue of a boarded physician that restarts surgery after several years hiatus while performing an office practice. As a previous chairman of a Credentials committee in a rural area where the specialist had no peers, consultation with head of the specific department at a NC School of Medicine recommended withholding credentials until the specialist could be observed in at least 3 surgeries by a board certified peer and perhaps other requirements may be made by the Board.

By Robert H Gaither MD on Nov 04, 2014 at 4:34pm

I just wrote about the difficulty getting back into medicine.  For those interested, please see my article: search Laury, reentry, blog.  Hope this helps.

By Daniel Laury MD on Nov 04, 2014 at 5:24pm
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