Challenges to medical licensing boards.

Abstract

old order changeth has special significance these days to boards of medical licensure. The accelerated development of new concepts in medical education and curriculum, the pressure of allied health professions, and the adjustment to new knowledge and technology demand that boards evolve a self-assessment program to determine where indeed they stand in relation to the times as well as to the profession and to each other. It is considered a privilege to be invited to comment briefly on such matters in this splendid issue on medical licensure, portions of which only too well demonstrate problems and restrictions. The various medical licensing boards—state, District of Columbia, and territorial—must become increasingly aware of certain challenges which are arising today and which will continue to arise in the future. Unfortunately fixed statutory provisions, under which boards must operate, are too often unduly restrictive or inelastic, even too obsolete, to allow medical boards